Retired from the day job, not from curiosity.
AI, Human Standing, and the Fight for a New Social Settlement
If AI makes secure employment less dependable, how do people retain income, independence and a meaningful say in their lives?
The book argues for preparing now. It does not predict that every job will disappear or depend on a particular timetable for superintelligence.
Tasks become cheaper or need fewer people.
New jobs may arrive too slowly, or be inaccessible to the people displaced.
Income, ownership and political voice become questions society must answer together.
Displacement can begin through fewer vacancies, smaller teams and lost entry-level opportunities. A productive economy could still leave many people with insecure livelihoods and less bargaining power.
Chapters 1, 3 & 5
New tasks, lower prices, greater demand, small businesses and labor shortages could sustain work. The book examines these possibilities and asks whether they produce durable jobs that displaced people can actually obtain.
Chapter 2
Income, essential services and the ability to plan a life.
Routine, relationships, responsibility and recognition.
The power to negotiate and challenge decisions that affect you.
The book proposes combining basic support, broader ownership, transition duties and useful community work. Each addresses a different need.
An income top-up and essential services would provide modest security when people could not earn enough. Cash support would decrease as other income rose.
Chapter 7 · The Floor and the Question Above It
The preferred cash payment is income-tested, rather than a universal payment to everyone. Support would not depend on accepting a job or proving an unpaid contribution. Assessing income creates administrative costs and risks of wrongful interruption.
A public wealth fund would invest on the public’s behalf. Employee ownership and personal capital accounts could also give households assets and returns of their own.
Chapter 8 · Ownership After Labor
A public fund helps finance shared services and support. Employee ownership gives workers a stake in a company. A personal capital account holds diversified investments that stay with the person after a job ends. Returns are uncertain, and receiving income does not automatically confer control.
Employer duties and public arrangements would provide notice, consultation and support as work changes, with funding and enforcement established before a crisis.
Chapter 10 · Government Before the Emergency
People need clear responsibilities, funded support and an independent route to correct decisions. Training should lead to credible opportunities. Governments would expand or revise measures in response to evidence about jobs, earnings and public finances.
Strengthen existing organizations and fund additional paid roles in care, learning, repair and other unmet community needs. Participation would be voluntary.
Chapter 9 · The Work We Still Need From One Another
These would be paid jobs with ordinary employment protections, suitable skills and supervision. People would need practical help to participate. The book proposes national consumption-tax funding, with local organizations delivering the work.
People must be able to challenge government and powerful providers. That requires independent institutions with the staff, resources and authority to act. Chapters 6, 10 & 14
The book separates today’s spending from long-term investment. Money used for current support cannot also be invested in a fund.
Proposals include better collection of taxes owed, a broad consumption tax, and taxes on income and returns. Exceptional profits and scarce resources offer possible additional revenue, with overlapping receipts counted only once.
A diversified public fund could add sustainable investment income over time. Early returns would not be promised as the main source of support. If money is short, basic support takes priority over new investment.
Chapter 7 illustrates a company replacing a job with an AI system, assuming unchanged sales. Here is how the annual saving is divided in that example.
Cash floor and health coverage
Replace lost public receipts
Not another payment to the worker.
Public wealth fund investment
Pooled personal capital accounts
Retained by the company
The $22,000 combines a $16,000 cash floor with $6,000 for health coverage. The personal-account money is pooled under national eligibility rules, not automatically given to the person whose job ended.
If AI cost $25,000 instead, the saving would be $52,000 and the same collection would take about 81%. Transition costs, administration and additional services are excluded. National costs and revenue need separate estimates.
“Economic rents” means returns above those needed to justify an investment after costs and risks. The book argues for competition to reduce excess rents, rather than preserving monopoly profits for tax revenue. See Chapter 7 and the appendix, “Assumptions Behind the National Cost Examples.”
Income protection is one part of the argument. The book asks how greater intelligence could improve health, learning, independence and the world people share.
For individuals, preparation means deepening expertise, learning to direct and check AI, and testing demand before changing careers. Adapting well can improve someone’s prospects without guaranteeing secure employment.
Chapters 4, 9, 11–14
Care, volunteering, hobbies and learning can give life structure and meaning. Affordable transport, accessible facilities and support for caregivers help make those choices real.
AI could support medicine, education, accessibility and environmental repair. Benefits still depend on reliable systems, human care, public capacity and fair access.
People in informal work and countries dependent on overseas clients face different risks. Useful infrastructure, local skills, fair terms and regional cooperation matter alongside income support.
The book proposes conditional stages. Capability forecasts alone do not establish how many jobs will disappear or which policies will work.
Build systems for support, establish transition duties and test delivery before attempting large-scale expansion.
Use hiring, paid hours, time to find secure work and local revenue alongside unemployment figures to judge whether more support is needed.
Make the floor dependable for the long term. Revise the response if the evidence changes, and test whether protections work in actual disputes.
The book does not present a fully funded national program or claim an answer to every implementation question. Revenue, incentives, administrative capacity and political consent remain substantial tests. Evidence that the problem is worsening would not prove that the proposed response works.
Introduction · Chapters 2, 7, 10 & 14
Displacement, the case for work’s resilience, and the capabilities changing the economy.
What jobs provide, human standing, and the danger of dependence without effective voice.
The floor, ownership, community work and the duties needed to manage a transition.
Personal preparation, better lives, global consequences and the politics of change.