[TrainedMonkey]

There is another side of the coin - to make universal basic income work cost of foodstuff, healthcare, and construction (and thus housing) needs to be pushed extremely low. This kind of automation enables it.

There is no argument that automating these jobs will incur tremendous human suffering by taking away jobs. However, in the long term I don't want anyone to be 'harvesting lettuce'.

[barry-cotter]

Or we could expand wage subsidies like the earned income tax credit. That has the advantage of not causing labour supply to drop precipitously and would cost much less than UBI so it could be implemented far sooner. And if the math on UBI comes anywhere near working out you passed the point of being able to afford wage subsidies long ago.

[hutzlibu]

But harvesting lettuce can be fun - in your own garden on your own time of course. Not back destroying wage labour...