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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
Business
Eduardo Porter

If AI makes human labor obsolete, who decides who gets to eat?

illustration of fruit still life with some replaced by computer code
‘Who decides how much everyday people who do not have an equity stake in the AI revolution get to consume?’ Composite: Rita Liu/The Guardian/Spanish School (Spanish, 16th-19th Century)

How will we be fed? That’s the biggest question not seriously being addressed amid all this talk about whether or not artificial intelligence will end up taking over all of our jobs.

Formidable though the technology appears, similar fears have popped up repeatedly since the Industrial Revolution, and most working-age adults remain employed. Still, what is sorely missing is a serious debate about what to do if this future in fact materializes.

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