[pornel]

Having a job for the sake of a job is a particular political view, which is not universal. There are lots of countries which would be satisfied with what US calls "handouts". If AI can create wealth, and the state manages to capture and redistribute that wealth to citizens, there's no problem.

[anonzzzies]

There are plenty of Americans who would take ‘handouts’ and move away from jobs. Bigger issue would be the fallout from boredom; sadly, most people don’t seem capable of entertaining themselves without work. People dream of retirement their whole lives and when they get there, they realise it sucks because they took their self worth, social life etc from their work. But education will fix that.

I am definitely more concerned about the redistribution and the bloody revolution that will happen if only a few own it all. This seems now feasible in my lifetime while I always thought I would be nice and dead by then. Rip off the bandaid though; no pause on AI, let’s go and see how far we can go.

[bambax]

> sadly, most people don’t seem capable of entertaining themselves without work

What are you basing this on? People are very happy in retirement; some may long their former life but in my experience they're not the majority. And an important part of working age people in most countries are in effect not working and doing fine (and not even counted as "unemployed", as one has to be actively looking for work to be counted).

The view that work is needed to keep people from becoming alcoholics or outlaws is patronizing.

[wood-porch]

Yet it’s true, from my experience being unemployed but still being financially stable. Work provides a lot of purpose and fulfillment that isn’t so easily replaced, although definitely not impossible. A suitable replacement often looks like work, just perhaps not paid

[jasonm23]

Addendum to your comment: Seatbelts are also a horrible idea.