As AI reshapes the labor market, the real threat may not be unemployment — it could be something subtler and more corrosive: the collapse in what skills are worth.
That’s according to MIT economist David Autor, who made the comments in an interview released Wednesday on the “Possible” podcast.
Autor warned that rapid automation could usher in what he calls a “Mad Max” scenario — a world where jobs still exist, but the skills that once generated wages become cheap and commoditized.
“The more likely scenario to me looks much more like Mad Max: Fury Road, where everybody is competing over a few remaining resources that aren’t controlled by some warlord somewhere,” he said.
Properly managed, the world should end up with enormous abundance, such that no one has to work much or work at all. I tend to believe elites will eventually become tired of their greed and status competition and, thus, be more inclined to use global wealth to everyone’s advantage. This may take a long time, but as new generations arise and digital babies become common, Darwinian instincts will be weakened or replaced by new insights. ABN
American Buddhist Net 