Artificial Intelligence, Income, Employment, and Meaning

The evolution of artificial intelligence and automation evokes strong emotions in people. Some imagine a dystopia in which people lose employment opportunities and are replaced by machines. Others envision a world where people will be able to enjoy their lives free from time and money constraints. Who is right? Most economists believe that automation promises a future of higher income that stems from the higher productivity that artificial intelligence will provide. This chapter discusses two aspects of such productivity gains: the effects of artificial intelligence and automation on employment and how people will spend their time if robots take their jobs; and the distribution of income gains and the role of social and political structure in that distribution.