New Nobel winner argues that UBI is needed as defence against AI

By Fazila Farouk

In this interview following his award, the winner of the 2024 Nobel Physics Prize argues that we need a universal basic income (UBI) as a defense against the ravages of AI.

Geoffrey Hinton, the latest recipient of the Nobel Physics Prize, is renowned for his pioneering work in AI, particularly in deep learning and neural networks. I’ve been following him since ChatGPT burst onto the scene.

  • Hinton makes a compelling case for why AI will likely surpass human intelligence. However, he sees this as a longer-term existential threat.
  • The more immediate concern is the threat of AI taking over jobs and the implications for growing inequality. Hinton is under no illusion that the increased wealth generated from improved productivity will flow to the wealthy.
  • His solution: we need a universal basic income!

While Hinton appears somewhat perplexed by the existential crisis likely to arise from the separation of livelihoods from jobs, I would direct him to the work of the post-work theorist André Gorz, who is credited with popularizing UBI. Gorz argued that UBI should also be accompanied by a cultural reorientation linking self-actualization to our responsibility to society.

Gorz, a Neo-Marxist and early cybernetics scholar, wrote extensively until the early 2000s on addressing the challenges posed by automation technologies. Drawing on Marxian political economy, he understood corporate power's impact on working people’s lives and the need to challenge it.

He was also inspired by Sartrean existentialism, a theory of self-actualization. For Gorz, self-actualization meant finding one's purpose in alignment with social responsibility. One of his solutions to the issue of automation was UBI, which would allow individuals to focus on personal pursuits that also serve or build society (somewhat like the concept of dharma in Indian philosophy). This addresses Hinton's concern about people’s sense of self-respect being tied to their jobs, which Gorz saw as superficial.

Finally, a related reform proposed by Gorz was the introduction of a four-day work week.