How ChatGPT and AI changed the conversation on universal basic income

When I joined UBI Lab Manchester in 2019, one of my reasons for getting involved was the idea of a just transition. I needed to see hope within the climate crisis, and basic income offered a possible answer to an important question: how were we going to move from an economy based on fossil fuels to the clean and green uplands we all know we have to head for?

We went out to talk to people about basic income, both to inform and to listen, taking a roadshow to shopping malls, libraries, city centre streets and university welcome weeks. We had discussions about basic income with people from different backgrounds and experiences, with most of them asking: ‘What is basic income?’

As we continued these outreach events, the mood changed. Increasingly we found people had heard of basic income, and were now asking different questions – ones that were challenging, but demonstrated how this idea was moving into the mainstream. People often ask, ‘Won’t people sit on the sofa all day?’ The idea of ‘money for nothing’’ seemingly hits a hard spot for many people.

By 2024, things had moved on again. The questions we’re asked today are more around how to pay for it, which suggests people accept the idea at least as a credible possibility.

What brought about this change? Well, a phrase I increasingly hear is: ‘Basic income is beginning to look inevitable.’ Inevitable? This is astonishing! An idea that a few years ago was on the wild fringes of political thought now seems as if it’ll have to be brought in at some point, somehow.

When we first went out on the road, we were given some advice by fellow activists. When trying to persuade people, don’t bother with ‘the robots are coming’. Yes, automation was a concern at the time, but it wasn’t an issue for the average person walking through Manchester city centre.

Then in November 2022, ChatGPT exploded into our lives, and suddenly the robots were coming – for your job and your children’s jobs.

When I asked ChatGPT: “What are good reasons to introduce a basic income?”, it came up with 11 points. The first being ‘Poverty Reduction and Economic Security’, which is what many arguments around basic income start with. But the second was ‘Addressing Job Displacement from Automation’, divided into the ‘Impact of AI and Automation’ – the risk of jobs being replaced, especially “low-skilled or repetitive ones”, and ‘Facilitating Transition’ – “providing a financial buffer for individuals who need to retrain or acquire new skills.”

This, however, is still bound up in the current model of how the job market works. The 10th point ChatGPT came up with offers a pointer to the radical transformation to come: ‘Adapting to Changing Work Patterns.’ It isn’t only the low-skilled and repetitive work that’s going to disappear – we all know AI is threatening white-collar and professional jobs, and although the jury is still out on the extent to which human creativity can be replaced, we’re all now wondering how much musicians, novelists and film-makers have to fear.

So what will there be left for us to do? What will we live on when the majority of us are no longer paid to do anything? Who will buy the goods and services that the ‘robots’ are producing, when most people won’t have an income? A basic income is going to be a vital part of sustaining the economy so the whole circus doesn’t collapse.

These arguments, while valid, are based on the idea that a basic income will somehow substitute for the current social security system. But there are deeper moral arguments for its introduction. Guy Standing, the godfather of basic income in the UK, is passionate about “access to the commons”: the freedoms we used to have, to graze our goat on common land or to collect firewood in the forests. These were taken from us, Standing argues, and we should be compensated for them with a basic income.

AI could hold untold opportunities for our collective future, but not if it’s used to extract wealth and consolidate power for a few billionaires. Today, the commons are again being plundered for the financial gain of a few at the top. AI models would not exist without the content created by all of us. We’re entitled to a cut of the profits, and in this sense, a basic income becomes not a hand-out, but a dividend that is rightfully ours as citizens. 

There are many other arguments for the introduction of a basic income, and a powerful one is that, far from costing money, it will over time save money for the Treasury. If this seems fanciful, that’s because we’re so used to short-termism: our politicians cannot look beyond the constraints of the current election cycle and do what’s necessary for the long-term. However, there is evidence to show that the introduction of a basic income can lead to improvements in mental and physical health, reduce crime, reduce homelessness, improve levels of education, encourage innovation and creativity, and reduce inequality.

AI may in the end be a catalyst for the introduction of a basic income. This will require a commitment to take the longer view. Politicians, businesses, the media and the public – we will all need to be on board.

Alison Hawdale is co-founder of UBI Lab Manchester.

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