Let Them Eat Robots

We are in the midst of a new industrial revolution creating more powerful products with less human labor. How do we reap the benefits of this increased productivity? Unfortunately, automation is rapidly replacing jobs. How do we suppress mass riots and feed starving people? Guaranteed minimum income has been proposed as at least a back stop, but there are many problems with this, not the least of which is paying for it. This talk introduces the rough idea of a robot given to each person upon birth to supply his/her needs and to supplement any guaranteed income. I go into what this entails and discuss the many open challenges.

Speaker: Jonathan Bachrach, UC Berkeley