The use of AI in the workplace will reach its inevitable zenith circa 2118, producing near universal unemployment in the American economy. Super capable or super-C machines will replace men and women in virtually all professions, crafts and trades. From CEO to junior associate, from seasoned professional to newbie, human workers will be replaced by byte-collar workers that are smarter, stronger and even more empathetic than they are. People will go from being coveted as “talent” to being regarded as irrelevant by employers.
How will humans respond?
Work will remain a central feature of peoples’ lives, but they will employ themselves, not to earn a living, but to elevate their being. They will not work “for” themselves, but will instead work “on” themselves. They won’t be 21st century free agents, but rather will act as 22nd century personal agents. They will devote themselves to exploring a purpose beyond the traditional markers of a successful life in a modern economy. They will, in short, have the opportunity to work at both their talent and their spirituality.
Talent has many definitions, of course, but in the world of work, it is best described as something a person loves to do and does especially well. When their talent is applied to their calling – work that they find challenging and meaningful – they earn a deep sense of accomplishment and fulfillment. In contrast, spirituality is defined as “of, relating to, or affecting the human spirit or soul as opposed to material or physical things.” When a person’s spirituality is applied to a religion or sacred practice – work that they find inspiring and uplifting – they earn a deep sense of inner peace and tranquility.
Together, these two spheres of work are our purpose in being human. Our relationships with family and friends are the gifts of our being, but expressing our talent and spirituality is our individual existential goal. It alone elevates us to a dignity reserved for our species; it alone ennobles us.
No less important, in this new reality of super-C machine domination, that nobility will be an integral feature of the American democracy – it will be achievable by any and everyone. Unlike in earlier times and even in the present, Americans in the 22nd century will be able to devote as much (or as little) of their time as they please to connecting with and exploring their best self and their soul.
Getting to that point, however, will be difficult, even painful for almost everyone. The reality of day-to-day life during the next one hundred years will present a colossal, seemingly insurmountable barrier to the expression of talent and experience of spirituality. As the opportunity for employment disappears, more and more Americans will lose both their financial and their physical and emotional support structures. The disruption will be sporadic at first, affecting only those in certain occupations and industries. Then, each passing year will bring the introduction of more and more machines in more and more segments of the economy, until finally, a tipping point will be reached, and the majority of Americans will find themselves out of work and with absolutely no prospect for reemployment.
How will people react? What will the years leading up to 2118 look like? Unfortunately, it isn’t hard to imagine what a newsfeed might include. I use that approach – a technique I call newsfeed realism – to provide a realistic but fictional portrait of the period.
Here’s an abbreviated sample from my book.
The crisis will provoke a tidal wave of citizen anger aimed at the Federal Government in general and the Congress in particular. Those in the President’s Administration will also feel the people’s wrath, but their local agents – their state’s Senators and Representatives – will be the primary target of their ire. Rallies will be organized on social media and draw hundreds of thousands of people in cities around the country. Many will carry signs that read, People Are Dreamers. Machines Are Nightmares!
The misery and accompanying unrest will spread as the weeks pass and soon dwarf that of the Great Depression. Congress will continue to dither, and a 22nd century version of Hoovervilles – called Congresscamps or, more cynically, Concamps for short – will appear in cities around the country. Boston, New York, Atlanta, Chicago, Portland, Dallas – they will all see Concamps set up in town parks and municipal parking lots. The largest, however, will be in Washington, D.C. where it will cover every square inch of ground on both sides of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. One old-timer will tell the press that it reminds him of the throngs he witnessed when Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech on the same spot.
Finally, with the prospect of violence growing more and more real and the Congress unable to devise an appropriate solution, the Administration will propose a sweeping program to reset the social and economic structure of the country. Unlike the New Deal programs during the Great Depression, this initiative will not be envisioned as a bridge over troubled times – a sanctuary for citizens until the economy recovers. Rather, it will place the country on a road that leads to an entirely new destination. It will both acknowledge that the economy will never return to what it once was – a platform for employment-for-fee work – and provide a way for the country to establish an inspirational new reality – a platform for employment-for-free work.
The legislation will initially face fierce opposition from the fearful and the deniers in both parties in the Congress. They will argue that the bill is too sweeping, too radical and pushes the country too far into a future with too many unknowns. They will use procedural tactics to delay committee votes and call in favors to try and attach poison pill amendments. Their opposition will briefly hold up the bill’s consideration and then collapse in the face of a super storm of public protest. Email and old-fashioned letters will flood into Congressional offices by the millions. Phone systems will freeze up in the face of an unprecedented volume of constituent calls. And, newspapers will enjoy an economic revival as they print daily, full-page ads paid for by advocacy groups that all have the same message: #PassItNow. Six weeks later, the Congress will do just that, and the United States will establish the first-ever fully Government subsidized Universal Health Insurance (UHI) and Universal Basic Income (UBI) program for its citizens.