>I'm not saying it's not possible, but if we wipe out 2/3 of jobs with AI, who is going to be buying all the stuff?

Money is just a proxy for access to resources. If a machine that is capable of replacing almost all jobs is really created then money will matter much less than access to said machine. Taken to the extreme to make the point, if you had a genie that could grant your every wish, what would you need money for ?

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oceanplexian 5 hours ago | parent | next [-]

> If you had a genie that could grant your every wish, what would you need money for ?

The things that a magic AI Genie will never be able to give you no matter how far into the AGI/Singularity things get. Such as Land, Energy, Precious Metals, Political and Social Capital, etc.

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famouswaffles 2 hours ago | parent | next [-]

All of these things can be easily obtained with control of a machine far enough into 'AGI/Singularity'.

Energy, Precious Metals etc are not obtained with Money. They are obtained with human work and effort, all of which we are now saying is doable by the machine.

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unglaublich 5 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Georgism is the only way forward. Tax land, energy, metals, and other constrained natural resources, not labour.

	▲	df2dd 18 minutes ago \| parent [-]
		Yep. Tax the resources that capital needs to produce the stuff. This is just a simple way to think about how we think about tax regimes etc can evolve.

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Teever 2 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

This is what a lot of people don't get. The magic genie that lets you wish for more wishes isn't a a rack of GPUs in a DC somewhere.

It's a domestic robot that can do full maintenance on another domestic robot.

Self replicating machines are the genie that grants you more wishes. They are the genie that can turn that land, energy, and precious metals into copies of themselves.

	▲	ryandvm an hour ago \| parent [-]
		What happens when the genies realize that the meatbags that require 3000 kilocalories a day are just a net drag on the whole system?

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lupire 5 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

'Political and Social Capital" don't belong on that list.

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sarchertech 5 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Yeah but what if that genie charges money for wishes.

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SoftTalker 5 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Money is a proxy for the value of peoples' time. Since AIs are not people, they cannot create value.

	▲	thomquaid 4 hours ago \| parent [-]
		Couldnt they create value by saving people's time? Like a shovel, or a bulldozer.

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xienze 5 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

OpenAI is not going to pay off my mortgage, it’s not going to replace my roof, it’s not going to fix my car, and so on. Money is still going to be very necessary for goods and services.

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famouswaffles 4 hours ago | parent [-]

I don't see what point you are making here. I responded to OP asking about "who is going to buy all the stuff". The people who would be concerned with that are by and large not stressed about paying house mortgages, replacing roofs or fixing cars.

And if they were, then the machine will just do all that for them. That's the point. The things you mentioned don't need intrinsically need money. The machine can fix or create whatever car, replace whatever roof, and build whatever house.

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xienze 3 hours ago | parent [-]

> The people who would be concerned with that are by and large not stressed about paying house mortgages, replacing roofs or fixing cars.

Well they should be, because actually putting 2/3rds of the workforce out of work in a short, sudden fashion is probably not going to end well for them.

> The things you mentioned don't need intrinsically need money. The machine can fix or create whatever car, replace whatever roof, and build whatever house.

What machine is this? It certainly doesn’t exist and won’t in the short timeframe these AI companies are predicting everyone is gonna be laid off. Maybe, maybe if the timeframe for “no one has a job anymore” happens over say, 100 years, things might go slowly. Over two or three years? Heads will roll.

	▲	famouswaffles 2 hours ago \| parent [-]
		>Well they should be, because actually putting 2/3rds of the workforce out of work in a short, sudden fashion is probably not going to end well for them. Maybe. The ruling elite being a small fraction compared to the downtrodden masses is hardly a new manifestation. Regardless, money won't be the primary issue. Again it's just (intrinsically) worthless paper. All of its current value is a social construction and new ones could take its place if necessary.