It’s a word you hear a lot from proponents of AI. Yeah, some jobs will be eliminated but a bunch of new jobs will be created. And even if the new ones don’t pay as much, AI will usher in an age of abundance that will provide for much of what we need and want (and used to pay for). There are lots of acronyms but UBI seems to get tossed around a lot: Universal Basic Income. Somehow you’ll have all you need (shelter, food, entertainment, etc) and can spend your days in creative (recreational?) pursuits.

Sounds pretty good at first blush. But after watching the latest episode (Season 3, Episode 5) of Special Ops: Lioness, I’m not so sure. One of the characters is a college professor (who happens to be an agent of Chinese intelligence) lecturing an auditorium filled with students:

What is paramount to understand: AI will likely render what I do and what you aspire to do as obsolete.

Likewise to careers in marketing, accounting, engineering… whether software, biological, mechanical… data analysis, research management.

All of these careers will disappear in the next decade.

You must alter the focus of your education to include machine learning, computer vision and management strategies, NLP engineering, computer vision engineering.

And you must prepare yourselves for a world in which your endeavors are not compensated with money.

Your compensation is in the collective betterment of our society, of our state.

What, no money, you say? Yep, that’s the future.

Your efforts will be compensated through the services provided to you in return from the state… housing, health care, food, clean transportation, entertainment.

And as you prepare yourselves for a career in the future, you must prepare yourselves also for a world that replaces the imperialist goals and economic meddling of a “free–market society” with a dedication to a state that in turn dedicates itself to an equitable life for all humankind.

The episode was written by Taylor Sheridan, “an American screenwriter, director, showrunner, and former actor known for redefining the modern Western and neo-noir genres. After roles in Sons of Anarchy and Veronica Mars, he shifted to writing, earning acclaim for his “frontier trilogy” films: Sicario (2015), the Oscar-nominated Hell or High Water (2016), and Wind River (2017), which he also directed. His hit television catalog also includes Mayor of Kingstown, Tulsa King, Special Ops: Lioness, and Landman.” (Gemini)