There’s lots of fear on how AI will impact jobs, but a prominent voice in tech believes that we weren’t meant to be doing them in the first place.
In a recent conversation with Indian Express, Bill Gates offered a unique perspective on the future of work, suggesting that the concept of “jobs” is merely a construct born out of necessity, a response to societal shortages. His intriguing viewpoint, though optimistic about the long-term potential of AI, acknowledges the seismic shift it represents, particularly for those ingrained in a world defined by scarcity.
“We weren’t born to do jobs,” Gates said. “Jobs are an artifact of the shortage — oh gosh, you know, somebody better be a farmer, okay? Somebody better drive those trucks around.” He went on to explain, “All of that is based on creating the human intelligence to provide a broad range of services.”
Gates continued, “And so, as you get away from that being a necessary thing, you get a lot more leisure time. And it’ll be people who’ve grown up in that world of no shortage [who] will have to think through [what to do with their free time]. I think it’s hard for anybody. In my case, [I’ve] spent 70 years in the world of shortage. It’s hard to reprogram your brain to this change.”
“Society will be able to have a level of output — food, medical advice etc — that does not require everybody to work like they do today. We’ll have a choice. I mean, we can say that the machines shouldn’t help with certain things. We can confine them to certain areas if we choose to. But the reason you think about jobs is because of the shortages,” he said, implying that that wouldn’t be the case any more.
Gates’s vision paints a future where AI-driven automation eliminates the need for many traditional jobs. It could create abundance and prosperity in the long run, but can also potentially leading to widespread unemployment and social unrest in the short term. This disruption could be particularly challenging for individuals whose skills are easily replaced by machines and who lack the resources to adapt to a rapidly changing labor market. While the long-term implications might include increased leisure time and societal abundance, the transition period could be fraught with economic hardship.
The implications of such a transformation are vast. Concepts like Universal Basic Income (UBI), which once seemed radical, might become essential safety nets in a world where human labor is no longer the primary driver of economic productivity. How we define “work” and “purpose” in a post-scarcity society will require a fundamental shift in our thinking. Gates himself admits the difficulty of reprogramming his own mindset, highlighting the magnitude of the societal adaptation required. While the possibility of a world free from the necessity of labor is tantalizing, the path to achieving such a future will undoubtedly be complex and require careful consideration of the potential consequences.