AI Leaders Want to Give Free Money to Everyone
Introduction
Some important people in AI think that giving money to all adults every month could help when AI takes away jobs. This idea is called universal basic income (UBI).
Main Body
Universal basic income means the government gives money to all adults. The government does not check if you have a job. It does not check if you need money. This idea became popular when Andrew Yang ran for president in 2020. He wanted to give $1,000 each month. After that, the COVID-19 pandemic made people think about free money again. Many places in the US started small tests. They gave money to poor people. Sam Altman, the head of OpenAI, did a study. He gave $1,000 each month to 1,000 poor people for three years. Another group got only $50. The people with $1,000 spent more money on food, rent, and transport. They felt less stress at first. But after two years, the stress came back. Altman also has other ideas. He wants to give computer power instead of money. He started a company called Worldcoin. It uses eye scans to give people digital money. Elon Musk also likes the idea. He says AI and robots will make many things. Then work will not be needed. He calls it ''universal high income''. He thinks people will not need to save money for retirement in 10 to 20 years. Another person, Peter Diamandis, agrees. He says technology will make things cheap. A $3,000 monthly payment could pay for basic needs. Other leaders also support UBI. Vinod Khosla says it is important. Dario Amodei says it is only a small part of the answer. Geoffrey Hinton told the UK government to use UBI. Demis Hassabis also likes the idea. But some people do not like UBI. They say free money may make people stop working. People may spend money on bad things. The government may need to raise taxes. Ekaterina Abramova, a professor, says people may lose skills if they do not work. She wants to give money only if people learn new things or work for the community.
Conclusion
The argument about UBI is not finished. AI leaders say it is needed because AI will take jobs. Critics say it has problems. Many places are testing UBI. But no one agrees on how to pay for it.