Is UBI Socialist? Can it Work for Capitalism? Redefining Wealth in the Age of AI

Summary

In this video, Julia McCoy discusses the impending automation of nearly all jobs by AGI and the need to rethink our economic systems. She challenges the notion that Universal Basic Income (UBI) is incompatible with capitalism, suggesting it could be an extension of capitalist principles. McCoy proposes that UBI, funded by the profits from job automation, could provide a safety net for innovation and entrepreneurship, and prevent societal issues like mass homelessness. She also hints at exploring alternative economic models like a resource-based economy in future videos.

Takeaways

• 🤖 The rapid advancement of AI and automation could lead to significant job displacement, prompting a reevaluation of economic systems.
• ⏱️ AI development is outpacing predictions, suggesting that full automation of jobs may occur sooner than expected.
• 🚀 The convergence of physical robotics and AI like neural networks could result in unprecedented job automation.
• 💡 The concept of Universal Basic Income (UBI) is being reconsidered as a potential solution to economic challenges posed by automation.
• 💼 UBI is not inherently socialist; it could be viewed as an extension of capitalist principles, redistributing wealth generated by automation.
• 🏛️ Capitalism has evolved over time and may need to adapt again to incorporate UBI as a means of profit distribution in a post-labor society.
• 🌐 The current welfare system is complex and inefficient; UBI could simplify this by providing a basic income to all citizens.
• 💸 UBI could empower individuals to pursue entrepreneurship, education, and self-improvement, fostering innovation and economic activity.
• 🌱 The idea of a resource-based economy, where resources and sustainability take precedence over traditional currency, is gaining traction.
• 🔮 The future of work and economics is uncertain, but embracing change and preparing for a new economic paradigm is crucial for societal well-being.

Q & A

What is the potential impact of AGI on the workforce according to the script?

The script suggests that AGI could automate 90 to 99% of the workforce, potentially leading to the full automation of all human labor by the year 2100.

How does the script challenge the timeline for full automation?

The script challenges the timeline by pointing out that AI models are evolving much faster than predicted, suggesting that the full automation timeline might be closer to 2030 rather than 2100.

What are the script's views on the economic implications of job automation?

The script posits that job automation necessitates a reconsideration of economic systems, possibly leading to a paradigm shift where traditional economic factors may no longer be relevant in a post-labor society.

What alternative economic factors does the script propose could replace traditional currency?

The script suggests that compute power or resources might replace currency as the primary economic factor in a future where labor is fully automated.

How does the script redefine the concept of Universal Basic Income (UBI) in relation to capitalism?

The script argues that UBI could be seen as an extension of capitalist principles, where profits from automation are redistributed to citizens, allowing them to participate in the economy as consumers.

What historical economic systems does the script mention in relation to capitalism?

The script references feudalism and the Industrial Revolution as historical economic systems that led to the emergence of capitalism.

According to the script, what is the current state of American capitalism?

The script describes American capitalism as a mixed economy, blending free market principles with government oversight and social programs.

How does the script compare the distribution of dividends in corporations to the concept of UBI?

The script compares UBI to dividends by suggesting that instead of distributing profits only to shareholders, they could be distributed to all citizens, simulating a societal dividend.

What potential benefits does the script attribute to UBI in a post-labor economy?

The script suggests that UBI could provide a safety net that encourages innovation, entrepreneurship, and consumer demand, helping society to embrace technological change without fear of mass job displacement.

What other economic models does the script hint at exploring in future videos?

The script mentions an interest in exploring a resource-based economy, referencing the work of Jacques Fresco and the Venus Project, which emphasizes sustainability and stewardship of the earth.

Outlines

00:00

🤖 Automation and the Future of Work

The paragraph discusses the imminent era of Artificial General Intelligence (AGI), which is predicted to automate a vast majority of the workforce, prompting a reevaluation of economic systems. A study from 2023 suggests that by 2100, all jobs could be automated. The rapid evolution of AI models, exemplified by the release of GPT-3 just a year after GPT-2, suggests that full automation might occur much sooner than predicted. The speaker, Julia McCoy, expresses her passion for exploring the implications of total job automation on economic factors like taxes, currency, and the potential for a paradigm shift where traditional economic values are redefined. She introduces the concept of Universal Basic Income (UBI) as a potential solution to the challenges posed by automation and challenges the common perception that UBI is incompatible with capitalism.

05:01

💼 The Evolution of Capitalism and UBI

This paragraph delves into the history and principles of capitalism, from its origins in the late Middle Ages to the modern mixed economy. It highlights the role of influential industrialists and economic shifts like the Industrial Revolution and the rise of the service and knowledge-based economy. The speaker argues that UBI could be an extension of capitalist principles, redistributing profits from automated industries to citizens, much like dividends are distributed to shareholders. UBI is presented as a means to empower individuals with the freedom to pursue entrepreneurship, education, and personal growth, which aligns with the goal of creating value and distributing it to stakeholders—a core tenet of capitalism. The paragraph also critiques existing welfare programs for their inefficiencies and suggests that UBI could provide a more effective and empowering alternative.

10:01

🌐 Embracing Technological Change with UBI

The final paragraph addresses the potential societal upheaval due to mass job displacement caused by automation and posits UBI as a solution to mitigate this. It suggests that UBI could allow society to adapt to technological advancements without fear, providing a safety net that fosters innovation and entrepreneurship. The speaker reflects on the rapid pace of technological progress and the urgency to prepare for a new economic system. She also hints at future discussions on a resource-based economy, sustainability, and the potential of the Venus Project. The paragraph concludes with a call to action for viewers to engage in the conversation about the future of the economy and to embrace the opportunities presented by the technological age.

Keywords

💡AGI

AGI stands for Artificial General Intelligence, which refers to a type of AI that possesses the ability to understand or learn any intellectual task that a human being can do. In the video, AGI is discussed as a potential driving force behind the automation of a vast majority of jobs, leading to a significant shift in the workforce and economic systems.

💡Automation

Automation refers to the use of technology to perform tasks that would otherwise be done by humans. The video highlights the rapid advancement of automation, particularly in the context of AI and robotics, which is predicted to automate nearly all jobs by the year 2100, or potentially much sooner.

💡Economic Systems

Economic systems are the structures and mechanisms that govern how resources are produced, distributed, and consumed within a society. The video suggests that the advent of widespread automation through AGI necessitates a reevaluation of current economic systems to accommodate a future where human labor is significantly reduced.

💡Universal Basic Income (UBI)

Universal Basic Income is a concept where every citizen receives a regular, unconditional sum of money from the government, irrespective of their employment status or income level. The video argues that UBI could be a solution to the job displacement caused by automation, providing a safety net and encouraging innovation and entrepreneurship.

💡Capitalism

Capitalism is an economic system based on private ownership of capital, investments that are determined by private decisions, and the pursuit of profit. The video discusses how UBI could be seen as an extension of capitalist principles, redistributing profits from automated industries to citizens, thus maintaining economic activity and consumer demand.

💡AI Researchers

AI researchers are experts in the field of artificial intelligence who conduct studies and make predictions about the future of AI and its impact on society. The video cites a study from over 2700 AI researchers that confirms the potential for full automation of human labor by the year 2100, emphasizing the credibility of such predictions.

💡GPT

GPT refers to Generative Pre-trained Transformer, a type of deep learning model developed by OpenAI. The video uses the rapid release of GPT-2 and GPT-3 as an example of the accelerating pace of AI development, suggesting that predictions about the timeline for full automation may be significantly off.

💡Robotics

Robotics involves the design, construction, operation, and use of robots, which are machines capable of carrying out complex tasks. The video mentions physical robotics as a key area where human behavior is being replicated, contributing to the potential for job automation.

💡Neural Nets

Neural networks are a set of algorithms modeled loosely after the human brain that are designed to recognize patterns. They are a fundamental component of deep learning and are used in various AI applications. The video discusses how neural networks replicate human reasoning, contributing to the automation of jobs that require cognitive tasks.

💡Post-Labor Society

A post-labor society is a hypothetical future state where the need for human labor is significantly reduced or eliminated due to automation and technological advancements. The video speculates on the economic and social structures that might emerge in such a society, particularly focusing on the role of UBI.

💡Resource-Based Economy

A resource-based economy is an economic model that focuses on sustainable use and allocation of resources rather than on the accumulation of wealth and profit. The video hints at exploring this concept further in upcoming content, suggesting it as a potential alternative to traditional economic systems in a post-labor world.

Highlights

The potential automation of 90-99% of the workforce by AGI necessitates a reevaluation of economic systems.

A 2023 study by over 2700 AI researchers suggests full automation of all human labor by 2100.

The rapid evolution of AI models, with GPT-3 being released a year after GPT-2, challenges the 2100 prediction.

Physical robotics and neural nets are advancing to replicate human behavior and reasoning.

The concept of compute as a replacement for currency in a post-labor society is introduced.

Universal Basic Income (UBI) is presented as a solution to the unprecedented level of automation.

UBI is proposed as an extension of capitalist principles, contrary to its perception as a socialist concept.

The history of UBI is explored, emphasizing its potential to alleviate poverty and stress.

The speaker, Julia McCoy, introduces herself as the president of Branwell, an AI-driven brand growth engine.

Branwell's technology focuses on delivering high-quality, contextually aware content.

The potential for a post-labor society to embrace AI and AGI for solving human problems is discussed.

Capitalism's evolution from feudalism to the modern mixed economy is outlined.

The inefficiency of current welfare programs and the potential of UBI to provide a more effective solution.

UBI is likened to dividends, suggesting a redistribution of profits on a societal scale.

The idea that UBI could encourage innovation, entrepreneurship, and maintain consumer demand.

The importance of moving beyond labels like capitalist and socialist to find solutions for a post-labor economy.

The potential for a resource-based economy and the work of Jacques Fresco as a future economic model.

A call to action for viewers to engage in discussions about the future of the economy and embrace technological change.

Transcripts

As we stand on the brink of a completely new era for humanity, where AGI may automate 90

to 99% of our workforce, we have no choice but to reconsider our economic systems.

A study in early 2023 from over 2700 AI researchers confirmed that we are looking at

the automation of every single job, from driving a truck to writing a New York Times

best seller. These experts put the year 2100 on the full automation of all human labor.

But if we cross-check that with the prediction we're after, GPT two came out in

2020. Experts said it would take another 50 years for us to see GPT three.

Well, a year later, GPT three was out.

Experts were off by 49 years.

That's how fast the model evolved.

Could we say that 2100 is 70 years off in the real date?

Could be somewhere around 2030, I think.

So if you cross-check what's happening in physical robotics, which is a replication of

human behavior, and then llms neural nets, which is the replication of human reasoning.

Total job automation is something we have never seen before in our world.

That's why I am so passionate about talking about it, shedding a light on it, and

thinking through how taxes, fiat money, currency will even play out in this new

scenario. Could it be that compute is the replacement for currency?

Could it be resources we value above money?

I believe we will see a completely new paradigm shift, and what we value as economic

factors today will not stand in a post-labor society.

But lots of people still view UBI universal basic income, the idea of everyone benefiting

universally and unconditionally from the incredible growth of resources and profit due

to automation.

Keep in mind this level of automation we've never had in history before.

Well, there's still a prevailing viewpoint out there that UBI is a socialist concept

that is incompatible with capitalism.

And in today's video, I want to shatter that myth.

What if I told you that UBI could be seen as an extension of capitalist principle?

If you watched my video, will UBI solve AI job disruption?

I took you deep into the history of UBI, where it came from, and this big idea people

aren't the problem.

Poverty is when you strip away all the fluff, all the political agendas.

You see that poverty is a trigger of so much stress.

The truth is, when you don't have enough money, when you don't have enough resources,

you can't think clearly.

You are reactive, not proactive, and thus a lack of resources, a lack of capital and

funds is the problem, not the person.

This is an eye opening point of view that makes everything I'm about to share with you

make a lot more sense.

By the way, if we haven't met.

Hello, I'm Julia McCoy.

I work full time in AI as the president of Branwell, a brand growth engine with custom

built proprietary AI solutions that allow marketers, publishers and agencies to grow

their brands on autopilot.

Branwell is built on the belief that great brands exist through great content, and

that's why delivering the highest quality content that's research backed has full

context understanding of you, your website, your content history.

It's a key piece of our technology.

For more information about the platform I love and work out every day, go to Branwell

AI on my YouTube channel here at Julia McCoy.

I explore the deepest recesses of the rabbit holes when it comes to artificial

intelligence and automation.

I look ahead at the future and I make the best educated guesses I can on the

intersection of full job automation and humanity.

How will we live?

What will we do? It's my firm belief from an optimistic point of view, but also from a

very grounded, real point of view that we will finally get back to being human beings,

and we're going to be less stuck in that rote manual work, which over 70% of 1 billion

people at work don't even like doing.

We are clinically depressed, always running out of money.

The education system is no better than glorified babysitting.

So my question is, if so many things are broken, why not let AI and AGI have a crack

at solving these problems for humanity?

So, to explain the natural affinity between capitalism and UBI, and how a redistribution

of the coming profits from total job automation is actually a potential extension

of the capitalistic way of thinking, which has grown America for decades, is a tangible

and real way of thought.

As crazy as it sounds, at its core, capitalism is all about the private ownership

of capital and the free market's ability to effectively allocate resources.

But it's also about creating value and then redistributing that value to the stakeholders

involved. Capitalism as an economic system emerged in Europe during the late Middle Ages

and early Renaissance.

It evolved from feudalism, where there were lords, barons, and then peasants working in

the field. Capitalism gained its momentum during the Industrial Revolution in the 18th

and 19th century.

Some of the principles of capitalism are why we have competitive markets today.

In the 19th century, during the Industrial Revolution, we had influential industrialists

like Andrew Carnegie and John D Rockefeller, which drove the economy forward almost single

handedly. In the 20th century, America became this economic superpower, and the rise

of corporations and the stock market.

World War Two brought about a lot of economic growth.

It's no secret that wars bring capital growth.

That's an entirely different rabbit hole we won't explore today.

And then in the 20th and 21st century, we had this shift towards the service and

knowledge based economy, where a lot of Americans became freelancers, consultants,

providers. Tech giants came to life and our digital economy changed the entire landscape

of the economy.

If you were to ask how to describe American capitalism today, at this point in time, it's

best described as a mixed economy, where free market principles are blended with

government oversight and social programs.

And if you look at these welfare programs, there's a lot of brokenness.

Some have asked, well, where should UBI come from?

Here's an idea in 2022, in a single year, the US federal government spent $1.19

trillion on over 80 different welfare programs.

And if you ask yourself, do these 80 plus welfare programs actually work?

The answer is up for debate.

Government handouts is a short term problem, and sometimes it can actually make the long

term problem worse.

Ever heard that saying give a man a fish, you'll feed him for a day?

Teach a man to fish.

You'll feed him for a lifetime.

Government welfare programs just give people a fish for a day.

The idea of universal basic income is more about giving people the means they need to go

learn how to fish, go start a business, go explore their passions because it is

unconditional, universal, and there's no time limit on it.

You don't have to worry about finding the next court building, signing up for the next

program, hoping that two months of food stamps gets you somewhere.

Having to sign up for another program because you defaulted out of the other one.

Well, that is bureaucracy that doesn't guide you towards building self sufficient skills,

which UBI, according to many studies, has been proven to be able to do.

It gives people the means and the freedom to move to better neighborhoods, to get out of

drug addiction, get into rehab, make their lives better, support loved ones, and pay for

basic needs.

Now, going back to how all this ties to capitalism, here's how modern corporations

work today. Number one, they generate profits.

Number two, they distribute those profits to shareholders as dividends.

Number three, those shareholders in turn reinvest or spend that money driving economic

activity. Now compare this to a situation in which AGI has automated almost every job.

Companies are still generating massive profits, in fact more profits than ever.

When and if AGI in its full extent pays out, I mean, the automation of every job, this

would mean there's far less human workers to actually pay.

When you take the idea of UBI, it could function very similarly to dividends, but on

a societal scale.

So instead of distributing profits just to shareholders, those profits go to citizens.

This would give everyone the opportunity to participate in the economy as consumers,

which is a big key of driving any economy forward.

And it would still maintain that demand necessary for businesses to thrive.

So really, UBI is just taking existing capitalistic principles and reapplying it to

a radically different economic landscape.

This shouldn't be about socialism versus capitalism.

It should be about what is going to work best for the world and humanity.

When a post labour economy rolls around, I think that the idea of universal basic income

could provide a safety net that encourages innovation and entrepreneurship.

And we've seen this confirmed in UBI studies.

Pilot programs showed people that became more entrepreneurial and more encouraged to

go pursue building businesses.

And you still have that consumer demand because you have natural resources through

income giving people purchasing power.

This would also allow our society to be cohesive.

We're looking at the potential of mass homelessness if there is simply no job

available, because the robots took them all and UBI would give us the opportunity to

actually embrace technological change instead of fear it because of mass job

displacement. If the only thing you get out of this video is to move beyond the labels of

capitalist and socialist, then you, my friend, are thinking correctly.

We are looking at a new paradigm for society, and I don't think we're going to

have to wait till the year 2100 to see it happen.

If GPT two was 49 years early beating out expert predictions, how soon do you think AGI

could be here? When you look at what's happening in technology every single day

right now in 2024, and then think what the years coming will hold.

If a single month this year alone holds so much technological progress, our economic

systems will dissolve, they will fall apart as we know them, and we need to be prepared

with a new economic system in hand.

In next upcoming videos, I'm going to explore the idea of a resource based economy, the

Venus Project and Jacques Fresco's work has really brought this to life the idea of

sustainability and stewardship of the earth in this idea of a resource based economy is

really appealing to me.

I look forward to sharing that with you in videos to come.

As always, it's an honor to share this with you.

I'm so glad you're here watching, paying attention, and getting ready for the greatest

technological age we have ever seen in our lifetime.

It's unbelievable.

I get to live in these times.

I hope you think so too.

I hope you're ready to make the most of it.

Let's keep sharing our voices, getting to the truth of what the new economy should and

could look like, so that we can have true abundance in this already abundant world.

I think we've just forgotten how to live in it, how to enjoy it, how to steward it, and

how to best take care of our natural resources.

I'll see you in the comments.

I read every one.

As time permits, I'll answer and get back to you.

So share with me all your thoughts on this topic.

As always, subscribe and I'll see you.

Down the next rabbit hole.