For the better part of a past decade, probably longer, I've had a running conversation with friends and my father before he passed away about this. I would say to them - set the timeline as short or wide as you like, the writing is on the wall that eventually we will automate virtually all jobs out of existence. Then what? How does society function, how does the government handle this? What will everyone do when there are no jobs left to be done? How will the ultrarich handle the seemingly inevitable end of money and wealth as we know it today?

I would argue that something like Universal Basic Income is necessary, and likely a short-term stopgap at best. While we might not reach AGI soon (or ever), that doesn't mean LLM's aren't going to continue to improve and continue to replace / displace job sectors - they're already 'good enough' to have an impact on the software industry. One could argue that physical labor jobs are safe, but that's only true while Boston Dynamics type robots are still too expensive to justify. Like everything, the cost will continue to come down on robotics, and the convergence of AI with something like Boston Dynamics will eventually impact non-white-collar work. Again, set the time-line as you like, it's 'not a will it happen', but a 'when will it happen'.

Are governments aware of all this? Are they planning for a sort of post-money world? What happens when all jobs are automated and companies achieve even higher profits? Taxing them more and has its limits. Who is going to buy their products if everyone is out of work? Are we heading toward a sort of Star-Trek style social structure where money is no longer a thing? I used to conclude with my dad that these were problems far off in the future - and that may very well be true still - but having two kids under 5, it feels like this future isn't as far off as it used to be, and I really wonder what kind of work/world they'll be living in when they're my age.