Ashley Makuwa

Reuters Newspaper

 

Technological development has significantly increased since the late 90’s and has continued to skyrocket upwards with the introduction of robots. Artificial intelligence is the up and coming industry and it has already began to take over. AI does a lot of jobs that people used to do and this has become a concern for many people and governments. The Finnish government has been one of the first countries to begin Universal Basic Income (UBI). UBI is the concept of guaranteed income to ensure nobody lives in poverty. Since jobs are viewed as being taken left, right and center by artificial intelligence, UBI sounds like a viable option, and it appears to be going well in Finland. However; this “scare” may not be as scary as the general populous thinks it is, because a similar situation has happened before during the industrial revolution.

But as we all know, the Industrial revolution ended up creating more jobs with the advancements in technology. To some, the answer to automation is UBI, that way nobody lives in poverty and everyone has a steady income while still having their basic needs provided for by AI. On the other hand this could devalue a good work ethic, and promote a sedentary lifestyle. The development of technology could also lead to more jobs opening up. Since robots can malfunction companies will need someone to make sure that these machines are in proper working order. To conclude, it all depends on the circumstances, beliefs and how the pros and cons are weighed.