Episode 26 - Not UBI

In Episode 26 - Not UBI, Brick Thompson and Ed Daniels discuss Ed’s concept of the Citizen Ownership Dividend. It is a bold idea in response to AI-caused job displacement. The implementation of Artificial Intelligence and Intelligent Robotics (AI+Robotics) will have a significant impact on employment in the United States and worldwide.

AI can already speak, create text, and generate images on par with skilled human writers and artists. With these capabilities, AI will soon be able to perform the jobs of many office workers — including managers. Meanwhile, humanoid robots are being prototyped globally. Within a few years they will be mass-produced for use by manufacturers, warehouses, and households worldwide. These robots will be able to perform many basic human labor tasks within five to ten years.

Many of the most vulnerable jobs will be disrupted between now and 2030. Almost all jobs will be disrupted by 2040. Important people have proposed a "Universal Basic Income" (UBI) to pay people some amount, perhaps $1,000 per month, to make up for loss of jobs or reduced income caused by AI+Robotics. But a handout from the government doesn’t seem to be a good solution.

Instead, how about sharing ownership of the companies that are causing the disruption? If we are all owners, then we can all cheer on the disruption because it will make us all richer.

Here is a link to Ed’s article on the Citizen Ownership Dividend: https://medium.com/@edbdaniels/introducing-the-citizen-ownership-dividend-175c02ece658
 
The name of this podcast, Beyond Electric Sheep, is a reference to the novel "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" by Philip K. Dick. That novel is the source for the movies Blade Runner (1982) and Blade Runner 2049 (2017). It explores the themes of artificial intelligence, empathy, and reality in a dystopian future where humans and androids coexist. 

The novel raises the question of whether androids can dream or feel anything at all, and whether they are different from humans in any meaningful way. 

In our Beyond Electric Sheep podcast we go beyond the novel and the movies and discuss the broader implications and applications of artificial intelligence in our personal lives and in our businesses. We explore the pragmatic as well as the ethical and philosophical issues that arise from creating and interacting with intelligent machines.

Beyond Electric Sheep is also available on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLYg2J0jET_BPCKSnsxz8mleEmYogYJZhn