Published: 2026-05-01
I am having random thoughts on how the advances of AI affects our society. One of the most discussed fear is echoed through discussions are knowledge workers losing their jobs.
I am picturing a more concerned another dystopian world.
My assumptions are:
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There will be a period where AI + robotics is not sufficiently good to replace everything people do. And human+AI still can accomplish more than just AI or just human.
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There might be artificial barriers, like policies, that enforces a human in the loop. This would be done either because of legacy or by design, to make human irreplacable. Say, requiring a human to show up physically (to stand in a line, to vote, to sign off something). OR requiring a human to be held responsible of a decision (i.e. the meme of "your job is fine if you can go to jail for it"), regardless if that decision was made with aid of AI.
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Price of tokens will increase proportional to the values they are producing.
If the above assumptions pans out, then one key question is: in the optimal setup of human+AI, does "who is this human" matter at all? In other words, is human the "commodity" in the value-producing act of "working"?.
If we do become commodity, the the balance of power between workforce and capital will get out of control real quick. Like a sandwich shop in a prime NYC location that makes 100k a month, if it's high revenue is because of the location, then the landlord can charge a very high rent, say to 70k, or whatever the next guy is willing to pay to take the shop over.
I'd rather be in a world that nobody have jobs and nobody need to work, than one that we all get minimum-wage jobs, because anyone can do your job. Or one that AI providers can charge me half of my salary, and I am required to pay for my own AI use.