Will Robots Give Us All Free Money?

Gary North writes:

Here is a headline: This AI expert says that a robot economy will force us to give people unconditional free money. The article is in Business Insider.

In the future, giving people unconditional free money might be the fairest way to deal with a robot-powered economy.

At least, that’s what data scientist and artificial intelligence expert Jeremy Howard believes.

According to Howard, the pool of displaced workers will just keep growing exponentially, and the solution is to level the playing field.

There are lots of articles like this one these days. (Are they being written by commie algorithms?)

I ask these questions:

First, why is an AI expert uniquely qualified to analyze the fundamentally most important of all practical economic questions, the one going back to Genesis 3:17-19: scarcity?

Second, how does a robot economy make this social decision — an undesigned system?

Third, what is the meaning of “force”?

Fourth, how can any system of wealth redistribution give if it does not first steal?

Fifth, is anything in life unconditional? If so, what? Theologians may say “God’s grace,” but then these questions arise: “Based on the meeting of which judicial conditions, by whom, when, and awarded on what basis?” Also this: “Grace is a pure gift. It is not given to everyone.” Also this: “God doesn’t have to take any grace from person A in order to award it to person B.”

Sixth, how does money work in a non-market economy?

The article mentions none of these questions.

It rests on the universal assumption of all socialist thought, namely, the assumption that nature imposes no inherent limits. Therefore, scarcity is the product of evil institutions — institutions based on private ownership. “Property is theft,” announced Proudhon. So, socialists conclude, the state should steal it back from the thieves and give it to everyone. This has been the socialist party line for 200 years.

(ht Felix Bronstein)