AI is threatening Americans’ jobs. Could guaranteed income provide a safety net?

Michael Tubbs was born and raised in Stockton, California, roughly a one-hour drive from Silicon Valley, the birthplace of the AI revolution that’s now forecast to forever change the way Americans live and work.

Michael Tubbs was born and raised in Stockton, California, roughly a one-hour drive from Silicon Valley, the birthplace of the AI revolution that’s now forecast to forever change the way Americans live and work. But despite coming of age in Big Tech’s backyard, the America that Tubbs grew up in was marked by “scarcity and poverty,” he told CNN. Tubbs, 33, was born to a teenage mother, whom he says he never saw when he was younger because “she was always working — and it was never enough.” His own experiences led him to think about different ways that the wealthiest country in the world could help ameliorate poverty. When Tubbs went on to become the first Black mayor of his hometown in 2016, he spearheaded a guaranteed income pilot program in 2019 that did something simple yet radical: Give out free money with no strings attached.  That idea of guaranteed income is receiving renewed interest as AI becomes an increasing threat to Americans’ livelihoods. Global policymakers and business leaders are now increasingly warning that the rise of artificial intelligence will likely have profound impacts on the labor market and could put millions of people out of work in the years ahead (while also creating new and different jobs in the process). The International Monetary Fund warned earlier this year that some 40% of jobs around the world could be affected by the rise of AI, and that this trend will likely deepen the already cavernous gulf between the haves and have-nots. As more Americans’ jobs are increasingly at risk due to the threat of AI, Tubbs and other proponents of guaranteed income say this could be one solution to help provide a safety net and cushion the expected blow AI will have on the labor market.