Can AI be Used to End Poverty?

Photo by Steven Depolo via Flickr

By Josh Wolf 

AI and UBI: A Glimpse into the Future of Wealth and Work

In the not-so-distant future, imagine a world where artificial intelligence (AI) has become so advanced that it’s creating a colossal amount of wealth. This isn’t some sci-fi fantasy; it’s the vision of Sam Altman, co-founder and president of OpenAI. Altman envisions a world where AI isn’t just a tool but a wealth generator, a world where the fruits of AI’s labor aren’t hoarded by a few but shared by all.

Altman’s grand idea? A Universal Basic Income (UBI) funded by the wealth generated by AI. He proposes an “American Equity Fund,” a system that taxes large companies and redistributes the wealth to citizens. In Altman’s concept, every adult in the U.S. could receive an annual income, potentially as much as $13,500, within a decade.

Sam Altman speaks onstage during TechCrunch Disrupt SF 2017 at Pier 48 on September 19, 2017 in San Francisco, California. Photo via Tech Crunch Creative Commons.

Altman elaborates on his idea in his 2017 blog post, “American Equity,” where he states, “I think that every adult US citizen should get an annual share of the US GDP. I believe that owning something like a share in America would align all of us in making the country as successful as possible—the better the country does, the better everyone does—and give more people a fair shot at achieving the life they want.” He further adds, “American Equity would also cushion the transition from the jobs of today to the jobs of tomorrow. Automation holds the promise of creating more abundance than we ever dreamed possible, but it’s going to significantly change how we think about work. If everyone benefits more directly from economic growth, then it will be easier to move faster toward this better world.”

The idea of UBI is not new, but the concept of funding it through AI-generated wealth is a novel approach. It’s a vision that challenges our traditional notions of work, income, and economic equality, and one that could transform our society in profound ways.

Tracing the UBI Conversation: The Evolution of a Radical Idea

Historically, the idea of UBI has been linked to various social and economic movements. Philippe Van Parijs, a Belgian philosopher and political economist, defined a basic income as an income unconditionally granted to all on an individual basis, without means test or work requirement. This radical idea has evolved over the years, with various models and proposals being put forward.

Altman’s ventures, OpenAI and Y Combinator, have been instrumental in driving the UBI conversation forward. From the early days of OpenAI, Altman and his team have been exploring the potential of UBI as a solution to the economic disparities that could be exacerbated by AI advancements. In a blog post on Y Combinator, Altman wrote, “I’m fairly confident that at some point in the future, as technology continues to eliminate traditional jobs and massive new wealth gets created, we’re going to see some version of this at a national scale.”

The conversation around UBI isn’t confined to the tech world. Figures like Andrew Yang, with his presidential campaign centered around UBI, have brought the idea into the mainstream. Yang’s proposal for a “Freedom Dividend” – a UBI of $1,000 per month for every American adult – sparked a national conversation about the potential benefits and challenges of UBI. As stated on his campaign website, “The Freedom Dividend, a universal basic income of $1000/mo. for all American adults, no strings attached – would enable all Americans to pay their bills, educate themselves, start businesses, be more creative, stay healthy, relocate for work, spend time with their children, take care of loved ones, and have a real stake in the future.”

The Stanford Basic Income Lab has also been a key player in the UBI conversation. Their mission is “to provide an academic home for the study of Universal Basic Income (UBI).” The lab has produced a wealth of research on UBI, providing valuable insights into how UBI could work in practice. For example, one of their papers, “Healthy Communities and Universal Basic Income: A Conceptual Framework and Evidence Review,” examines how a UBI could impact community health. The paper suggests that “UBI has the potential to impact health both directly, by giving individuals more resources to address their health needs, and indirectly, by reducing stress and promoting economic stability.”

The Blueprint: From Concept to Reality

Implementing Universal Basic Income (UBI) isn’t just a matter of flipping a switch. It requires careful planning, robust infrastructure, and a willingness to experiment. Altman-backed projects are already exploring how to make UBI a reality. “We want to run a large, long-term study to answer a few key questions: how people’s happiness, well-being, and financial health are affected by basic income, as well as how people might spend their time,” said Altman in a blog post in 2016. “But before we do that, we’re going to start with a short-term pilot in Oakland.”

Worldcoin  developing retina scan technology that could provide a secure way to identify individuals, a crucial component of a global UBI infrastructure.

One of the key challenges of implementing UBI is figuring out how to distribute the funds. This is where Altman’s investment in Worldcoin could come into play. Worldcoin’s mission is “to distribute a globally-accepted, silicon-valley-backed cryptocurrency to as many people as possible,” and they are developing retina scan technology that could provide a secure way to identify individuals, a crucial component of a global UBI infrastructure. Existing UBI experiments and projects provide valuable insights into how UBI could work in practice. The Stanford Basic Income Lab, for example, has conducted extensive research into UBI, providing a wealth of information on the potential impacts and best practices for policy design.

Altman’s investment in Worldcoin, a company developing retina scan technology, could also play a role in his new city ventures. This technology could provide a secure way to identify individuals, a crucial component of a UBI system and a potential tool for managing the infrastructure of a new city. According to TechCrunch, “The crypto-focused project was co-founded by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman with a three-part mission: create a global ID, a global currency and an app that enables payment, purchases and transfers using its token — alongside other cryptocurrencies and traditional assets.”

Another Altman Venture: Building Utopia

Sam Altman’s vision extends beyond the realms of AI and UBI. He’s also expressed interest in building new cities, potentially serving as platforms for UBI experiments. These cities, designed from the ground up, could provide a unique opportunity to see how UBI might function in a real-world setting. Altman has said, “We should be able to build new cities in this country. You can give people the option of new places to live with different rules.”

These new cities wouldn’t just be testing grounds for UBI, though. They would be designed to unleash human potential and improve living conditions. In a blog post on Y Combinator, Altman and Adora Cheung discuss the idea of building new cities as a way to tackle some of the world’s most pressing problems. Altman wrote, “We’re interested in the idea of new cities as a way to solve some of the problems that come with these old ones becoming so successful.”

The Crossroads: The Future is in Our Hands

Standing on the cusp of an AI-driven future, we face a choice. We can allow the wealth generated by AI to concentrate in the hands of a few, or we can choose to distribute it widely, providing a UBI that benefits all.

As stated by the Seven Pillars Institute, “The future of AI and UBI isn’t just a matter of technology or economics; it’s a matter of what kind of society we want to live in.”

This choice presents us with two distinct future scenarios. In one scenario, AI-driven wealth is redistributed through UBI, leading to a more equitable society. In the other scenario, economic disparity increases as the wealth generated by AI is hoarded by a select few.

“Theoretically, the UBI would alleviate abject poverty and redistribute wealth in doing so,” says the Institute.

But each path has its own set of potential consequences and ethical considerations. If we choose the path of redistribution, we must grapple with questions about how to implement UBI fairly and effectively; and if we choose the path of increased disparity, we must confront the social and economic consequences of widening inequality.

“A concerning feature of a guaranteed basic income is the greater level of autonomy recipients would have if free to spend government issued money.” Another concern with increased autonomy is the elimination of the incentive to work or to exceed job expectations,” the Institute says. “A universal basic income is designed to combat the increasing loss of jobs to artificial intelligence advancements and to redistribute wealth in the process.”

It’s crucial that we consider not just the economic implications, but also the social and ethical ones. The future of AI and UBI isn’t just a matter of technology or economics; it’s a matter of what kind of society we want to live in.

The choice is ours to make. And as we make this choice, we must remember that the future is not something that happens to us; it’s something we create.

To stay on theme with this article, it was created in collaboration with an AI language model, GPT-4, developed by OpenAI. The AI assisted in the research, drafting, and editing process under the guidance of the human author. The AI’s role was to facilitate the writing process, providing insights from various sources and helping to shape the narrative. However, the direction, critical decisions, and final approval were made by the human author. The AI does not have personal experiences or opinions, and its contributions are based on patterns in the data it was trained on. This collaboration is an example of how AI can be used as a tool in journalism, under the guidance of a human journalist.

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