Rethinking income for the age of AI

The world had time to react to the invention of the wheel, the creation of the printing press, the industrial revolution, and the start of the internet and computer-based work. Industries adapted, people retooled and reskilled themselves to perform the new work that needed to be done. The AI revolution is different. Its rapid advancement has left many spinning in worry and despair, as they feel they have no time to prepare or prevent their own displacement.

It is predicted that long-term AI investment has added $4.4 trillion in growth potential to the global economy, but who benefits? If the wealth created by 24/7 AI employees accrues solely to shareholders and tech conglomerates, we risk deepening economic inequality. There must be a system or systems for distributing this accumulation of wealth, so income disparity doesn’t increase and millions don’t become impoverished.

AI and social equity

The industrial revolution was a brawn multiplier; the AI revolution is a brain multiplier. The pace of change is not slowed by the production capacity of industrial plants, as these AI minds can learn and progress overnight. The possibility of unchecked societal displacement and upheaval is a real one.

Predictions of nearly 300 million jobs being eliminated by AI are frightening. This shift offers unprecedented potential — and peril. The polarity in outcomes could be profound. On the one hand, agentic AI systems could revolutionize global productivity, accelerate drug discovery, and combat systemic issues like child hunger.

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On the other hand, unchecked AI could become what Oxford philosopher Nick Bostrom has described as the “final invention” — a force so powerful it displaces humanity’s role in decision-making altogether. Over 1,000 AI researchers and leaders, including Elon Musk and Yoshua Bengio, have signed an open letter calling for a pause in large-scale AI experiments, warning of potential “loss of control” over intelligent systems. 

Are we moving too fast with AI? Are too many treating it like a new toy at Christmas when it is actually a serious instrument that must be handled with care and consideration at all times? The future and fate of tens of millions of our fellow global citizens hang in the balance.

Everyday possibilities and pitfalls

Much time in studies and online is spent on the macro level when it comes to AI and its changes to society, but the day-to-day applications and effects are massive. The most immediate, day-to-day impact the individual will experience is less waiting and more doing and getting answers/results. 

For instance, by 2028 it’s predicted that 68% of customer service and support interactions will be handled by agentic AI. Agentic AI has the advantage of being able to learn constantly and become a subject matter expert at a rapid pace. The amount of calls that get escalated to humans will decrease, and time on the phone and in chat boxes will decrease, while customer satisfaction increases.

It will also bring much more profound, life-changing benefits. For instance, in the field of medical treatment and drug discovery. People will begin to benefit from accelerated innovation in these fields due to initiatives such as Microsoft’s Discovery platform. They are creating an environment powered by agentic AI where “every researcher could collaborate with a tireless team of intelligent, synergistic AI agents with the sole purpose of accelerated innovation.” That method of instantaneous collaboration is revolutionary on all levels of medical research and treatment to all humans.

But, with these benefits comes a potential offsetting cost to all of us. For example, there are millions of people across the globe that comprise the staff of call centers and customer support. What becomes of them when an AI can answer nearly all questions with zero dollars in salary for human employees? Is the world prepared for this level of potential unemployment? Where are governmental and enterprise level programs for upskilling and retraining to keep these individuals from being left behind?

Wealth redistribution from digital to human labor

The “godfather of AI,” professor Geoffrey Hinton, recently told the BBC he felt AI would increase productivity and wealth but that money would go to the rich “and not the people whose jobs get lost and that’s going to be very bad for society.” Without implementation of policies across the globe, this fear could become a reality. 

Universal Basic Income (UBI) has been discussed as a potential countermeasure, but without enforceable mechanisms, it remains an academic exercise. Instead, there should be a new model of digital labor taxation — a structured system whereby digital employees are taxed for their productivity, and the proceeds are redistributed to the human workforce they displace or augment.

Much like carbon pricing for environmental harm, a “digital dividend” can ensure that AI-driven productivity translates into shared prosperity. Governments must create streamlined, automated pathways for this redistribution, possibly leveraging the same agentic technologies to track, tax, and transfer. 

As the agentic AI era gains traction with more autonomous actions, we will start to see a work stratification emerge in the hybrid society. More productivity will shift to digital beings, and more creativity will become the onus of the human beings. Machines will produce everything we need. Humans will be free to create new worlds. In order for this new world to be realized, all must be lifted by the tide of AI, not simply those with the capital to program and leverage it.