basic<\/em>\u00a0income. In Musk\u2019s world, he foresees something more lush, where most things will be abundant except unique pieces of art and real estate.<\/p>\n\u201cWe won\u2019t have universal basic income, we\u2019ll have universal high income,\u201d Musk said this month. \u201cIn some sense, it\u2019ll be somewhat of a leveler or an equalizer because, really, I think everyone will have access to this magic genie.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
What would this mean for the economy?\u00a0 Economic laws have traditionally been predicated on the scarcity of goods, along with their production, distribution, and the means of exchange.\u00a0 What if goods are no longer scarce, due to robots producing them in such quantities that they can be distributed to whoever wants them, with no means of exchange necessary?<\/p>\n
I\u2019m not sure how that would work.\u00a0 It would seem that the raw materials for whatever the robots produced would still be subject to scarcity.\u00a0 Robots might account for labor, but there is more to an economy than that.\u00a0 And surely someone would have to design, program, and input instructions for the robots.\u00a0 And what would be the incentive to improve products and develop new ones?\u00a0 This would seem to be a formula for economic stagnation.<\/p>\n
But, more importantly, what would this mean for vocation?\u00a0 What would we do with ourselves if we didn\u2019t have to work?\u00a0 Spend our time being creative, Musk says, but would we?\u00a0 Would we compete to acquire what Musk says will still be in limited supply, art and real estate?\u00a0 But how could we acquire them if we don\u2019t need to work or earn an income?\u00a0 We could presumably spend our time getting educated in all kinds of wonderful spheres, but would we bother without being driven by preparing for a career?<\/p>\n
Of course, we have more vocations than just the way we earn a living.\u00a0 Not having to bother with that could presumably free us up to spend more time on our other vocations in the family, the community, and the church.<\/p>\n
But AI and robotics could also make the vocations of the family obsolete.\u00a0 Some futurists are predicting the development and implementation of the artificial womb.\u00a0 Women could be liberated from the pains of childbirth.\u00a0 And, as marriage and parenthood rates are declining anyway, would we even need the family, if technology can use in vitro fertilization and artificial wombs to manufacture babies and provide robot babies to take care of them and educate them?\u00a0 We could turn out as many children as we need\u2013but how many would we need if they aren\u2019t needed as workers or loved by a mother and father?<\/p>\n
As for the civil vocations, what would be the role of citizens when their every want and need is met by technology.\u00a0 I suppose the government would orchestrate it all, so there would be slots for rulers, but we would need very few.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m not sure what this might mean for our vocations in the church.\u00a0 Will there be debates over whether pastors need to be human?\u00a0 Or might we program artificially intelligent robots to preach, lead worship, and give us pastoral care?\u00a0 Will we even assemble together any more, or will we simply meet online or put on helmets that will take us to a church that exists only in virtual reality?<\/p>\n
Now I\u2019m skeptical about all of this.\u00a0 But I am getting ready to embark, with the help of someone who knows more about the tech side than I do, on a study of how technology impacts vocation, as well as how vocation impacts technology.<\/p>\n
In the meantime, I\u2019d appreciate hearing what you think about the subject.<\/p>\n
(Note:\u00a0 The illustration with this post was generated by Artificial Intelligence.\u00a0 Such images often contain creepy errors.\u00a0 Look at the human woman\u2019s arm and hands.\u00a0 None of our machines work perfectly or can function without human input, which gives me hope that technology will not make us obsolete.)<\/p>\n
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AI-Generated Illustration:\u00a0 \u201cHumanoid robot and a woman retrieve information from a laptop. The picture was AI generated from the \u2018author\u2019\/uploader with granted rights. The picture comprises errors \u2013 the second fore arm and hand of the woman are unhuman artifacts.\u201d By Polimorph, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-sa\/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons<\/em><\/p>\n
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