Elvis is coming for your job ~ on automation and universal basic income

Coming home from visiting relatives on the east coast over the holidays, my kids and I got to the terminal gate at Newark International Airport in NJ to find a very interesting phenomenon. Each seat at the gate had an ipad where you could check your flight, read the news, play games, and order food and drink.

I found this fascinating. I could order a glass of wine online while sitting right at the gate and within minutes it arrived in front of me. No trip to the bar, no having to talk to anyone at all except a thank you once it arrived.

Since we had some time to kill, my daughter and I went to the airport store as she wanted to buy a few trinkets. As we went to check out, we found a computer but no cashier. How strange I thought. We paid with no issue and left the store.

At the time I thought it was very cool. Especially since Newark is not known for friendly customer service! Upon further research I found that Newark Airport has 1000 of these ipads throughout the terminals.

And then as I was perusing various news sites the other day, I came across an article entitled "Robots Could Kill Many Las Vegas Jobs" on CNN. Since I happen to live in this city, I clicked on it and started reading all about Elvis who 'works' at the Renaissance Hotel.

Apparently Elvis is quite handy. When you call down to the front desk to get an extra towel or toothbrush, Elvis, a 3 ft tall robot, appears at your door with needed item.

Because of the amount of service industry employees in Las Vegas, it is touted as the city most at risk for losing jobs due to automation. What specific types of jobs? Lower paying jobs whose duties require less thought and more repetitive tasks such as cashiers, cleaning staff, restaurant and hotel staff.

It is estimated that in 20 years, upwards of 65% of jobs in Las Vegas could be automated. Obviously the next question is ... what happens to all those people whose jobs will be replaced by automation? The CNN article goes on to say that this will produce an even greater amount of income inequality and there will be a surplus of people available to work without a higher education or even a high school diploma (unfortunately Nevada is ranked 50th in education and has a very high drop out rate). Those with advanced degrees will have the least chance of being replaced by automation.

This then leads into the discussion that many countries have been having as they foresee the labor issue as automation takes over in the not so distant future. Universal Basic Income. What is it? It is a specific payment to all of its citizens (and permanent residents) from the government on a monthly basis with no means test, meaning its unconditional. It is for those who have work and those who don't have work alike.

Obviously there has been much debate about how this could possibly be paid for, whether it would become an enabler of people to not work, and many other issues that would arise from such a project.

As of right now there are countries including the United States that are running trials of Universal Basic Income. Finland launched a two year pilot program in 2016 taking 2000 of its citizens and giving them the equivalent of $660 each month. Finland's experiment will end at the end of 2018 and then it will publish its findings. A year into the trial, there are positive reports.

Here in the US, the city of Stockton, where 1 in 4 residents lives below the poverty line, is conducting a yearlong trial of UBI. The Economic Security Project, headed by Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes, is contributing $1 million and each of the participants will receive $500 monthly with no strings attached.
The state of Alaska has had a type of universal basic income for a while known as the Permanent Fund Dividend. Each resident receives around $1000 each year from oil revenue that Alaska makes. Obviously this is much less than a monthly stipend but it is like UBI in the way that its not means tested.

There are other trials around the world including in India and Kenya and more will be popping up as there are famous names with money backing this idea including Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk and many others. They are huge proponents of UBI and are actively looking for ways to propel this model forward.

Economically speaking, there have been models put forward for and against UBI. Some stating it would increase the economy of a country, state or city. Other models stating the opposite.

It will be very interesting to see in the not so distant future where this goes. It could be part of the solution to job loss from automation and to poverty areas. The trials will give a glimpse of what we would expect.

As I was researching for this blog, I kept thinking about Steem and Steemit and how this platform and this currency, on an individual level is changing some people's economic realities already and it's still in its infancy. I believe Steemit could change the world.

Would love to hear your thoughts on automation? Universal Basic Income?