what? AI is reshaping the economy

so what? ...leading to centralization of capital and control, loss of agency

now what? let’s build cybereconomic coordination to ensure equitable prosperity

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What’s happening? Why is it important?

The AI Age is approaching: it is universal (source), self-reinforcing (source), predictably (source), and scalable (source) technology that will impact all areas of the economy. While there is little doubt about technological progress, it’s unclear how exactly it will affect society and the economy.

At the cybernetic economy workshop, we will — yes, you heard that right — delve into the impact of AI advancements on various sectors:

• What will happen to labor market when many jobs are being automated and/or augmented?

  • What timeline and pace of displacement we should expect? What social measures, like UBI can soften the social crisis? What types of UBI exist? How can we ensure UBI doesn’t lead to full control by the government over means for existence? How can decentralized identity and crypto incentives solve this? What new jobs will be created and how to prepare (reskill) people for that?

• What happens to businesses when software starts making decisions?

  • How will AI-powered firms and organizations operate? What effect will AI have on the size, structure and operational efficiency of firms?

• What monetary, legal and fiscal systems will support the world that moves with the speed of AI?

  • What will be the monetary system for the post-scarcity world? How should the fiscal system adapt to growing automation and margins?

• How can we avoid AI-induced corporate cyberpunk, generative at-scale propaganda or totalitarian surveillance?

  • What are the effects of widespread fake content and loss of epistemic agency on democracy? What are the solutions to prevent this or at least provide an alternative?

• How will individuals find purpose and meaning in their live when the world is changing?

  • What will be the effects of fast-paced changes on mental health, sense of meaning, and fear of the unknown among people?

• In a world where everything is monitored and personalized, how can people protect their privacy?

What are we going to do?

The goal of the workshop is to design a high-level cybernetic and d/acc vision of how cybernetic/programmable, decentralized, and open protocols can address impending crises.

Schedule:

• Intro + quick presentation and overview of the cybernetic economy vision (15 min)

• Breakout groups based on the topics below (60 min)

• 5-minute presentation of the challenges and potential solutions by the groups (40 min)

• Wrap-up and saving the work artifacts (5 min)

Some thought starters for the workshop participants