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im-so-stupid-lol t1_j6j3h15 wrote

Reply to comment by the68thdimension in A McDonald’s location has opened in White Settlement, TX, that is almost entirely automated. Since it opened in December 2022, public opinion is mixed. Many are excited but many others are concerned about the impact this could have on millions of low-wage service workers. by Callitaloss

> if this 'automation' bothers people they should be pushing for Universal Basic Services (UBS).

respectfully I think people's fears are a little more nuanced than that. obviously if AI is going to make most work that people do today unnecessary, we should distribute those benefits to not just shareholders but also stakeholders which will be every member of society.

however, I think people in general lack trust in such systems. who will control that system of benefit distribution (distributing food, currency, etc) -- the government? private companies?

I think people are disturbed by the fact that, up until this AI revolution, one's economic value is inherent because they can perform labor that there is demand for, and so ultimately the people, the workers, have a lot of leverage and can exert influence on the system, because they are needed. whereas, after this AI revolution, assuming we are talking about HLMI -- meaning that basically any task is better done by a machine than a person -- the worker now has no leverage in the economic system and is fully at the mercy of whoever controls the system. whether that is a governing body or a corporation is kind of irrelevant, it's an uncomfortable situation to be in.

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the68thdimension t1_j6je7vf wrote

This is all true, and my comment was simplistic. In my defense, it's hard to cover such a massive topic in a few sentences. Yes we need UBS, but alongside it we also need a huge restructuring of our economic and political systems to reduce wealth (and power) inequality, and bring the tools of human and natural flourishing back within our direct (democratic) control. And this is still a simplistic and reductive comment.

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