The universal basic income (UBI) has been put forth as a possible mechanism for dealing with a rise in automation and one of its supporters appears to be Tesla CEO Elon Musk. While speaking with CNBC, Musk noted he believes people should receive a basic income in order to make sure they’re not entirely without money once it’s harder to get a job.
There’s a pretty good chance we end up with a universal basic income, or something like that, due to automation. I’m not sure what else one would do. That’s what I think would happen. – Musk
Under the UBI plan (as it is traditionally laid out), governments will use tax dollars to give every adult a certain amount of money. The amount may vary based on some factors, such as whether or not they have children.
Musk believes automation will increase, as do most forward-thinking individuals in the tech sphere, but it won’t be entirely bad. Rather, it may let humans do more interesting things and focus on enjoying life more than they currently do.
People will have time to do other things and more complex things, more interesting things. [They will] certainly have more leisure time. – Musk
