One of Silicon Valley’s favorite ideas isn’t actually tech-driven: Universal Basic Income (UBI) is the tech industry’s solution to a predicted wave of unemployment caused by the rise of artificial intelligence. NPR “That’s why OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has spent the past few years funding experiments that give people free money. “Are people just sitting around playing video games, or are they building something new?” he asked in a blog post. Now we have some answers.
New results from the Unconditional Income Study show that giving people in Illinois and Texas $1,000 a month “increased fiscal flexibility without discouraging labor force participation.” Fast Company Recipients had a safety net and still wanted to work, albeit slightly less.But skepticism lingers. “There’s a persistent myth that cash with no strings attached encourages laziness,” says Juliana Uhuru Bidadanure of New York University.
Could Universal Basic Income change people’s lives?
apply 1 week
Escape the echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news and analysis from different perspectives.
Subscribe and save
Sign up for our free weekly newsletter
From our morning breaking news bulletins to our weekly Good News newsletter, we’ll deliver the week’s best stories straight to your inbox.
From our morning breaking news bulletins to our weekly Good News newsletter, we’ll deliver the week’s best stories straight to your inbox.
Will UBI save us from our AI problems?
To continue reading this article…
Create a free account
If you continue reading this article you will receive exclusive website access every month.
Do you already have an account? Sign in
Subscribe to The Week
You’ll receive unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters, and many other benefits.
You can cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Digital and Print + Digital subscriptions include unlimited website access.
Create an account To unlock access, please enter the same email address registered to your subscription.
