In my mind, UBI was promoted more due to the increased automation that will happen in our work lives where top companies hire a lot less than their counterparts

In my mind, UBI was promoted more due to the increased automation that will happen in our work lives where top companies hire a lot less than their counterparts did years ago and more manual labour is taken over by automation. Moreover, socialism itself is not evil or fundamentally wrong just like neither is capitalism fundamentally wrong, this depends on the government. Many nordic countries have quite often skirted the thin barrier between welfare capitalism and socialism and have not combusted or achieved what you said above. Instead UBI is championed more as a continuation of the welfare system already in many countries (read the articles defining UBI). The idea of welfare itself is a capitalist notion and UBI should not be identified with the ideas of socialism or capitalism. UBI is not an extremist idea and should be treated along the lines of a more aggressive pension/welfare policy.