AI destroys jobs, but a British minister knows the solution: a basic income for affected individuals.
AI has been destroying thousands of jobs for months and many individuals are viewing these changes in the job market with great concern. According to researchers AI could even replace a tenth of all jobs and these are predictions that cause more worry than joy for many.
However, some states are already considering how to reduce or at least cushion the problems. The latest idea comes from a minister in the British government: a basic income for individuals who have lost their jobs due to artificial intelligence.
Basic income for individuals who have lost their jobs due to AI
What is this proposal about? The British Minister for Investment, Lord Jason Stockwood, stated to the Financial Times (Paywall) that the government is considering the introduction of a universal basic income as a means to support workers in industries where AI threatens to displace their jobs. He explained to the magazine:
We undoubtedly need to think very carefully about how we can cushion the decline of these industries, so some kind of basic income and a mechanism for lifelong learning, so that people can retrain.
How does one intend to finance this? For funding, Stockwood already has an idea: a stronger taxation of tech companies that rely on AI and similar technologies. Because they are partly responsible for the significant changes in jobs. Stockwood stated in the conversation:
I think about the productivity gains and the prosperity that AI can create, but we must also consider the more harmful and short-term danger that it entrenches inequality and makes a really small group of super-rich elites even richer, because they control the capital and technologies.
Technology companies have long been regarded as a problem for many European countries: they earn a lot of money in Europe but pay comparatively little tax despite significant revenues. Many states see a great potential here to extract funds.
Many workers are concerned about their jobs. Generation Z is also affected by layoffs. However, young people have found an alternative to studying and working in an office: a job in the trades, which is considered crisis-proof: AI is currently destroying jobs, but Generation Z has found a way to protect themselves from it
