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Just because automation is good for the overall economy doesn't mean that the benefits will reach those displaced, or that the period of displacement won't be extremely disruptive or dangerous.
As it stands, it encourages monopoly and scale, you no longer have a lot of the coordination bottlenecks that prevent any single successful company from swallowing the majority of GDP, especially when it's even modestly superhuman AGI in charge.
I have more to lose than most Mottizens, because I am not a citizen of a wealthy Western country. India can't afford UBI, nor is it in a good position to ramp up its manufacturing to make good use of it. Countries like America or Australia can probably manage the former, and China the latter. My stay in the West is contingent on me being a value add, and that will almost certainly be weakened. After all, you're not going to be deported because your visa expired and you couldn't get a job anymore.
As for why I focus on AIU instead of AI simply killing all of us, I can do much better when it comes to preparing for the former, and I'm as helpless as anyone else if it's the latter. My marginal effort and concern is far better suited for the worlds where it makes a difference.
Is it possible that the gains of automation are taxed to subsidize UBI, or that decreased costs of goods helps soften some of the shock? Certainly. I'm not banking on it though, not before a lot of suffering.
India is already much more volatile than the West, and I have reason to suspect that the risk of things going sharply south for at least a while as all the sectors of the economy reliant on producing goods and services for international consumption become obsolete is unacceptably high.
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