A Beautiful Dialectic
This article shows why John Naughton is one of the sharpest and wisest tech critics around.
There is nothing inevitable about automation. How it rolls out is dependent on human decisions. The effect it has is up for grabs too. It could be a Mad Max techno-apocalypse or it could be more in keeping with Ian M Banks’ utopian Culture. It is up to us.
I think that when automation is bolted together with a Universal Basic Income, the outcome will be positive. Each makes the other work better. UBI is a safety net for the disruption that automation will unleash. Automation is a means of funding basic income and laying the foundations for a better future for all.
It is a beautiful dialectic. Locked together, the two combine to create a new model for living where everyone can live more creatively.
Are we all creative? It depends how you define creative. We are not all artists but we do all have a talent, something we are good at. It may only be a flicker but if we have the chance to nurture it, it could become a great fire. Those fires grow markets, build communities and make individual lives more ,meaningful.
To have the space to focus on doing we are good at while robots do more of the work and generate the taxes to pay for our lifestyle is the foundation for a healthier, less wasteful and more productive culture. Where each has the chance to give according to their ability. By bolting tech and income together we create a new dynamic that breaks the inequality of today.
My book is being published by Unbound at https://unbound.com/books/the-coming-age-of-imagination/
