THE NO-DAY WORK WEEK
Though I think we are a looong way off no paid work at all, here’s my take on a no-day work week.
Once, humans lived in a world that was pure ‘magic’… air and food and water appeared, no one knew how.
In many societies, some time was spent just trying to survive, but a great deal of time was also spent in ‘celebration’ (singing and dancing and telling stories), as well as ‘teaching and learning about the world’… with the elders passing on their knowledge to the young. Jonathan Kolber calls these ‘Celebration Societies’.
For most of human history (until the advent of the smart phone), most people have entertained themselves in small groups, dancing and singing (usually with simple instruments), or playing games with people in their local community. Few people paid to see ‘professionals’.
In future, we will do both (participate ourselves, and also watch professionals).
In future, things and services will be created and delivered, ‘no one knows how’, via robots, AI, automation, and virtual services. It will be like magic… it already is for most people (including me)!
If we don’t have to do paid work, we can find joy in life itself. Including doing unpaid work we find interesting/challenging/rewarding for its own sake… like bringing old cars back to life, or preparing a meal, just for the satisfaction of ‘doing it myself’.
We can be reading and writing and watching, and learning and joining in, and creating…
There are literally thousands of games/pastimes/interests/hobbies/art and crafts/cultural pursuits/cooking/gardening/sports/camping/bushwalking/touring/playing in bands/singing/dancing, and other activities (virtual and real), alone and in groups, for fun and in competition, that people can enjoy, as well as simply caring for and being with those we love (including our pets) and those who live in our local community… and across the world. And, we can help to make our homes and streets and cities more beautiful, and repair our environment…
If we have the time AND the money.
Getting money is the least of our problems. Right now, we can easily create money to pay a Universal Basic Income (UBI) that is set to keep the labour market in ‘dynamic balance’.
As automation, AI and virtualization eliminate paid work, the UBI rate can be raised. As it rises, some people will choose to reduce their hours or drop out of paid work altogether. At some point, the market will be brought back into balance…
With everyone who wants paid work in a job, all jobs filled in a reasonable time, and everyone not in paid work doing other things with their life… as they choose.
People will move in and out of the available paid work, as their needs and circumstances change over their life, including taking time out to update their skills and knowledge as the needs of society also change.
The fact that some people are not working will not impact economic efficiency. As, by definition, in a balanced market, there would be no paid work for them.
To live life, is to experience it. That is something no ‘unconscious intelligent AI/Robot’ can do for itself… or for us.
As for AI/robots becoming conscious, there is no credible theory for how that could ever happen.
Intelligence is not the same as Consciousness. Intelligence can guide behaviour, moving stuff around towards some particular goal based on a set of rules.
Only Consciousness is aware of the goal, the rules, and the behaviour.
