Big Numbers, Big Solutions: The Future of Economics, The Future of Work
This contents of this article was originally intended for a live presentation, for a conference in Auckland, canceled due to Cyclone Gabriel—which unfortunately caused damage, displaced thousands, and loss of life. We thank those who have helped and donated—including Futurevere’s Altered State Machine, referenced in this intended talk.
Jerome Kelsey: It’s an honour for us, Jerome and Jerome, to be speaking to you today about two exciting tools that have the potential to change the future of economics and work.
We apologise in advance for strictly reading off of cue cards — there is a very good reason, and it will be revealed right at the end.
Jerome Hartigan: Before we delve into these technologies, I’d like to set the stage by talking about one of the most disruptive waves that hundreds of millions of us are about to face.
Jerome Hartigan: And we’re not talking about the usual suspects—pandemics, financial crisis, financial instability, war or climate change.
No, we’re talking about the robotic elephant in the room.
AI is coming, and it’s coming fast.
Jerome Hartigan: According to McKinsey & Company, automation is expected to displace between 400 and 800 million jobs by 2030.
The World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report estimated that 85 million jobs may be displaced by AI and robotics by 2025. And, according to Pew Research, half of tech experts believe that artificial intelligence will displace half of the world’s workforce — over 4 billion people — within the next five to 50 years.
Even if those estimates are halved… those would be huge numbers of people displaced.
Jerome Kelsey: But It’s not all bad. We are seeing the enormous potential of AI, the abilities it will grant us and the jobs it will also create, or free us from.
Part of my recent work has been in game design consulting on the cutting edge of AI Research at Altered State Machine. Here, we create games that leverage the unique qualities of Machine Learning. With Machine Learning, existing game genres can be enhanced, and new game genres will emerge.
But at the same time as these opportunities emerge, there will be disruption to the status quo.
Jerome Kelsey: Allow me to share a personal story with you.
My father is a retiree who had been looking for a way to supplement his income in his golden years. He was always a creative and talented writer, so he started writing blog posts for different websites.
It was a perfect job for him, as he could do it from the comfort of his own home and it provided him with a steady stream of extra income.
Jerome Kelsey: But, as technology advanced and artificial intelligence like ChatGPT became more prevalent, many of those blogging jobs started to disappear.
The market was flooded with AI generated content, and it became increasingly difficult for people — like my father — to compete.
Despite his best efforts, he was eventually forced to stop writing altogether. His job was disrupted by AI.
Jerome Hartigan: But, what if we told you that Jerome’s father’s story doesn’t have to end so tragically?
That there can be a bridge from our old ways of doing things to a new system? After all, Jerome was given career opportunities in AI, just as his father lost career opportunities.
Might there be a smoother way to gracefully transition?
Jerome Hartigan:: And then what if we told you that there’s a lifeboat on the horizon?
Two technologies that work in tandem and have the potential to help the hundreds of millions displaced by AI find a new source of income?
Jerome Kelsey: This future is not just upon us, it’s knocking on our door and the time to act is now.
Our first tool, the Freeos Economic DAO operates as a decentralized organization on a blockchain, and allows participants to earn income through voting on monetary policy decisions with aligned incentives that helps the individual and the group equally.
It’s a supplementary income earned with dignity through regular participation to steward the economy and community.
Money as a digital commons.
Jerome Kelsey: The reason this tool came about, was though a series of insights that came to me through my career as a game designer — and my work with game economies — all designed to incentivise particular behaviours.
Behaviours that were exploited to rake in hundreds of millions for the game publishers.
I often suspected that these same incentives could drive behaviours that could be good for everyone, and I was sure that blockchain, smart contracts and decentralised networks could allow this to happen.
One morning I woke up with the idea of Freeos firmly in mind, and after a while a team formed around this idea, prototypes were made, investments and grants gathered to help us build an actual working solution that has now attracted thousands of active participants.
Jerome Hartigan:: Providing the means to access a currency is one thing, but how to ensure that there are robust, and diverse use cases that demand such a currency?
Enter the DAOScape — a tool that allows anyone to spin up and operate their own decentralized autonomous organizations, where talent and capital can organise themselves to move in a unified direction, incentivised to create goods and services for the FREEOS token. And using the FREEOS token for the DAO subscription fees.
But unlike all other DAO tools, this one does not require DAOs to be set up with governance tokens. Instead unique personhood is captured to make sure that not every DAO ends up as a plutocracy.
Jerome Hartigan:: Please pause for a moment and take a look at this slide. …
This dynamic, a unified currency that works in a growing ecosystem to incentivise organisations that create valuable goods and services is a formula for growth — this same strategy formed the backbone of President Roosevelt’s New Deal, the economic miracles of Asia, and the revitalisation of the post-war German economy.
The application of capital to the creation of goods and services allows supply to meet the demand naturally, without the ill effects of inflationary forces.
Jerome Kelsey: In addition to those displaced by AI, these same tools can be a stepping stone for over 5 billion people who currently live on less than $10 per day to join the global economy.
Jerome Kelsey: It is hard to visualise 5 billion people.
Imagine this area, with people packed shoulder to shoulder, It would hold the entire world’s population of 8 billion.
And more than half this number — are all living on less than $10 a day.
Jerome Kelsey: Now imagine tools that allow millions of people to participate daily in earning a currency, and finding and creating work, using their talents, connections, creativity and experience.
Now all of this is accessible using their mobile phones, and additionally may even leverage the combined processing power of their smartphones as well as growing network effects.
How much value could this generate if granted to each individual? And how much for the entire economy?
Jerome Hartigan:: And let me tell you, there’s proof in the pudding.
Crypto UBI examples such as the Pi Network, the Qual Network, and Good Dollar have attracted over 40 million users.
They prove that there is a desire to earn a crypto income with dignity.
Jerome Hartigan: So, who are the minds behind these solutions?
I am proud to tell you that many members of the team behind the Freeos Economic DAO and the DAOScape, has partially come from their own community, proving that DAOs can truly work to bring about greater cooperation and value creation.
This team has often been identified as a top trailblazer, winning a number of grants and awards for their efforts.
Jerome Hartigan: This trailblazing team, and their growing community, has been imagining a world where people are no longer at the mercy of job loss due to automation, pandemics, or climate emergencies.
A world where people have a new way to earn an income with dignity, and where people have the tools to forge their own path in a rapidly changing world.
A world where people are incentivised to cooperate and build value at a grassroots, yet global, scale.
Jerome Kelsey: The Freeos Economic DAO and the DAOScape aren’t just lifeboats, but cooperative sailing vessels taking us out of the stormy sea of job displacement caused by AI and automation to new horizons and ways of working together that can rise to the unique challenges of the 21st century.
They offer us a chance to earn a supplementary income and work to create value, deep network effects and wealth with self-respect and dignity.
Jerome Kelsey: The displacement of jobs by AI and automation will have a profound impact on our economy and society.
But let’s not be discouraged by this. Instead, let’s look at it as a call to action to create new, innovative solutions that can help people weather the storm and come out even stronger on the other side.
Jerome Hartigan: So, my friends, it’s time for us to take action. It’s time for us to embrace these cooperative solutions — as well as AI — and work together to ensure that no one is left behind in the coming wave of disruption.
Jerome Hartigan: But before we move on, we have one more surprise for you all.
Nearly everything you’ve seen and heard in this presentation — the slide layout, most of the images and the script for the speech–and even some of the insights — has been generated by AI.
It is why we insisted we read off cards — to clearly convey that it wasn’t our voices, but the voice of AI.
Yes, you heard that right. The technology that may be disrupting our jobs is also helping us present solutions to that very same problem. How amazing is that?
So, let’s not be afraid of the future. Let’s embrace it with open arms and work together to create a brighter, more prosperous world for all of us.
From Jerome and Jerome — as well as Midjourney and ChatGPT—Thank you.
