Robots won’t just take our jobs – they’ll make the rich even richer

By Ben Tarnoff : theguardian – excerpt

Robotics and artificial intelligence will continue to improve – but without political change such as a tax, the outcome will range from bad to apocalyptic.. Instead of making it possible to create more wealth with less labor, automation might make it possible to create more wealth without labor…

Should robots pay taxes?

It may sound strange, but a number of prominent people have been asking this question lately. As fears about the impact of automation grow, calls for a “robot tax” are gaining momentum. Earlier this month, the European parliament considered one for the EU. Benoît Hamon, the French Socialist party presidential candidate who is often described as his country’s Bernie Sanders, has put a robot tax in his platform. Even Bill Gates recently endorsed the idea.

The proposals vary, but they share a common premise. As machines and algorithms get smarter, they’ll replace a widening share of the workforce. A robot tax could raise revenue to retrain those displaced workers, or supply them with a basic income…

“Robots will eliminate 6% of all of US jobs by 2021, report says”…(more)

We are already hearing about driver-less trucks that will replace millions of middle class jobs, and self-driving cars that will eliminate millions of entry level jobs. Uber and Lyft will be the first to lay off the work force they used to kill the taxi industry. Once trains and light rails are electrified, drivers can be eliminated. This is only the transportation industry. How will humans deal with rogue robots and their masters?