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The Real Threat of Artificial Intelligence

34 points by darod 9y ago

T-A 9y ago
if most countries will not be able to tax ultra-profitable A.I. companies to subsidize their workers, what options will they have? I foresee only one: Unless they wish to plunge their people into poverty, they will be forced to negotiate with whichever country supplies most of their A.I. software — China or the United States — to essentially become that country’s economic dependent, taking in welfare subsidies in exchange for letting the “parent” nation’s A.I. companies continue to profit from the dependent country’s users Or they could just require that services targeting their residents be provided by locally incorporated and taxed subsidiaries. China itself already does so with its Great Firewall and requirements that foreign companies partner with local ones; Russia's rule that personal data be kept on servers in the country is another example. In that light, the "real threat" is nationalization and compartmentalization of the once global network as its growing economic importance makes a hands-off approach politically untenable.
- maxander 9y ago
  Russia and China are giants, though, with substantial economic clout- and, further, it's not clear that measures like those would actually solve the capital flow problems the article describes. If you're a small country like Belgium or Finland, your realistic options will be even more limited.
  - T-A 9y ago
    Unless you happen to be a member of the world's largest common market. Germany alone has 3x the GDP of Russia.
avmich 9y ago
Always wondered why somebody who can't earn money working don't just go to land and start raising basic necessities. I assume you can be quite productive today - even without money, using knowledge - and other schemes of cooperations could emerge.
- omgwtfbyobbq 9y ago
  They could be productive, no question about that. Ten years ago, I was of the opinion that it's hard/expensive to go off-grid/do your own thing. Now, it's remarkably inexpensive. Without a decent chunk of savings, it's still really hard to pay for everything until you can get up to speed.
crb002 9y ago
AI means death of the personal income tax. It puts AI work at an unfair tax advantage.
omgwtfbyobbq 9y ago
Great article! I feel like they're using AI as a catchall for AI/automation/etc..., but there isn't a lot of room to hash things out in an editorial.
nthcolumn 9y ago
"Imagine how much money a company like Uber would make if it used only robot drivers." Who in an unemployed world would these robots be driving about? The handful of super rich who will prefer to drive their antique sportscar on empty roads?

34 points by darod 9y ago

T-A 9y ago

if most countries will not be able to tax ultra-profitable A.I. companies to subsidize their workers, what options will they have? I foresee only one: Unless they wish to plunge their people into poverty, they will be forced to negotiate with whichever country supplies most of their A.I. software — China or the United States — to essentially become that country’s economic dependent, taking in welfare subsidies in exchange for letting the “parent” nation’s A.I. companies continue to profit from the dependent country’s users Or they could just require that services targeting their residents be provided by locally incorporated and taxed subsidiaries. China itself already does so with its Great Firewall and requirements that foreign companies partner with local ones; Russia's rule that personal data be kept on servers in the country is another example. In that light, the "real threat" is nationalization and compartmentalization of the once global network as its growing economic importance makes a hands-off approach politically untenable.

maxander 9y ago
Russia and China are giants, though, with substantial economic clout- and, further, it's not clear that measures like those would actually solve the capital flow problems the article describes. If you're a small country like Belgium or Finland, your realistic options will be even more limited.
- T-A 9y ago
  Unless you happen to be a member of the world's largest common market. Germany alone has 3x the GDP of Russia.

avmich 9y ago

Always wondered why somebody who can't earn money working don't just go to land and start raising basic necessities. I assume you can be quite productive today - even without money, using knowledge - and other schemes of cooperations could emerge.

omgwtfbyobbq 9y ago
They could be productive, no question about that. Ten years ago, I was of the opinion that it's hard/expensive to go off-grid/do your own thing. Now, it's remarkably inexpensive. Without a decent chunk of savings, it's still really hard to pay for everything until you can get up to speed.

crb002 9y ago

AI means death of the personal income tax. It puts AI work at an unfair tax advantage.

omgwtfbyobbq 9y ago

Great article! I feel like they're using AI as a catchall for AI/automation/etc..., but there isn't a lot of room to hash things out in an editorial.

nthcolumn 9y ago

"Imagine how much money a company like Uber would make if it used only robot drivers." Who in an unemployed world would these robots be driving about? The handful of super rich who will prefer to drive their antique sportscar on empty roads?