"Universal Basic Income" (also known as unconditional basic income or basic income) has been a research theme that Silicon Valley tech tycoons are keen to invest in. For the past eight years, OpenAI's CEO Sam ·Altman-funded OpenResearch project has been quietly experimenting with what if everyone in the world had regular and unconditional access to free money. On July 22, the United States National Institute for Economic Research (NBER) published two papers sharing the findings, which it called "the most comprehensive study of universal basic income ever." Preliminary findings show that people who receive this money tend to spend it on basic needs (food, transportation, and rent), health care, and helping others. Altman has repeatedly said that when cutting-edge technology replaces the jobs of ordinary people, UBI is a solution to poverty. So is it actually viable?
"$1,000 more per month"
Artificial intelligence (AI) is disrupting the future, so how should the displaced workers live? Altman's answer is – to receive free money. It is with this in mind that he has donated tens of millions of dollars to the OpenResearch Lab to explore the feasibility of a "universal basic income". The so-called "universal basic income" refers to the fact that there are no conditions, no restrictions on qualifications, and no qualification examination, and each citizen or member can receive a certain amount of money on a regular basis, which is distributed by the government or group organization to all members to meet the basic living conditions of the people. In an experiment that began at OpenResearch in 2021, researchers selected a total of 3,000 participants in Texas and Illinois and divided them into two groups, one group would receive a fixed allowance of $1,000 per month (hereinafter referred to as the "recipient group" or "recipient") and the other group would receive $50 (hereinafter referred to as the "control group"). Altman made it clear that he wanted to pick "talented and motivated, but people from poor families." For example, one of the recipients, Cara, was diagnosed with a rare neurological condition that prevented her from working as a normal person. She sold all her fixed assets and set up a GoFundMe page to make ends meet. She was selected to participate in the study and was assigned to the "recipient group". "$1,000 alleviated my panic. I was on the verge of losing my ability to take care of myself. ”
Throughout the trial, OpenResearch researchers collected data from sources such as telephone records, online surveys, interviews, time diaries, education records, and credit reports. In addition, they draw blood from volunteers to track certain biomarker data.
The results of the study showed that recipients who received $1,000 increased their overall monthly spending by $310, of which $169 was spent on basic needs, including rent, transportation, and food. Recipients also spent cash on dental care, medical insurance, and reduced alcohol consumption by 20% compared to the control group. Charlotte, one of the recipients, said: "I put braces on myself. People underestimate the importance of having a good tooth because it affects not only self-awareness but also how people evaluate you. "The researchers believe that while basic income has no significant impact on health indicators, increasing the frequency of health insurance coverage may have long-term health benefits.
In terms of employment, the recipients worked an average of 1.3 hours less per week and were 2% less likely to be employed, but were also 10% more likely to actively seek work and more likely to choose interesting or meaningful work. Jessie, a recipient, said, "This money has increased my savings and I have had the opportunity to be picky. I don't have to accept a job I don't like just because I need money, and now I can afford to keep going until I find a job that I like and is suitable. ”
In terms of moving, a basic income helped the recipient group take action earlier to find a new home, with a 23% increase in probability. In addition, in the third year of receiving a basic income, some recipients turn to funds for higher education or vocational training. Compared to the black control group, the black recipient group was 26 percent more likely to want to start a business.
Of all the findings, the largest increase in spending compared to the control group was financial support to others, with an increase of about 26%. Karina Dotson, research and insights manager ·at OpenResearch, said this was what surprised her the most. In contrast to the control group, the recipient group used the funds to give gifts, take out loans to others, donate to charity, or help relatives who were incarcerated. "This is especially true for some of the lower income recipients. We know from the available literature that most of their social networks are also low-income people. ”
Why is Silicon Valley obsessed with a "universal basic income"?
Commenting on the results, OpenResearch said their aim was to "generate data and make it as widely available as possible in the form that works best for people." At the end of the paper, OpenResearch also admitted: "Money is an important part of improving lives, but without other resources such as health care and childcare, its [monetary] impact may be limited." In other words, the additional funding of $36,000 over three years will not address major structural problems or significantly improve the health and long-term financial well-being of recipients.
Altman has repeatedly said that a universal basic income is the solution to poverty. Ten years ago, when he was president of Y Combinator, a start-up accelerator, he called on researchers in a blog post to start their investigation early. "While there's been a lot of discussion, there's been fairly little data on how it works." ·Karl Widerquist is a professor at Georgetown University in Qatar and a historian of basic income. He said that a "basic income movement" began decades ago and has now been renewed into its third wave. A few years ago, OpenResearch reached out to him to give his opinion on an experiment that had not yet begun. Now, Widquist wants the United States federal government to move forward with a basic income. "We have a lot of data on what we can do with a basic income, and we're just divided on whether or not it's supposed to be done."
Not only Altman, but also Technologists in Silicon Valley have been promoting a basic income as a cure for AI-induced human unemployment. Musk claimed in 2017 that "AI will become more and more adept at getting the job done." Universal basic income is not enough, we will have universal high income. Since 2017, GiveDirectly, a nonprofit organization, has embarked on a $30 million study of a universal basic income (UBI) to date, the largest and longest in the world to date. Eligible adults will receive a monthly cash grant, some for 12 years. According to research data, GiveDirectly has distributed millions of dollars to about 23,000 eligible people in 195 villages to help them lift themselves out of extreme poverty. In 2023, California launched its first state-funded UBI pilot program, which will provide $1,000 per month to 150 recipients in Ventura County and $1,200 per month to 150 recipients in San Francisco.
The forward-looking idea of a "universal basic income" is widely circulated in Silicon Valley, with Liz ·Fouksman, a professor of social justice at King's College London, arguing that progressives and liberals have fallen into the laissez-faire liberalism promoted by "universal basic income." Jaron Lanier, an early ·promoter of virtual reality, told Forbes magazine that in trying to create a more egalitarian society, UBI risks concentrating wealth flows. Assuming that superintelligence is on the horizon, people can become data providers in the new economy, rather than "humanity will soon be eliminated" as the information revealed by the research conducted by Altman. "People don't say, 'You're so nice,' they're like, 'I hate you, you tell me you're needed, and I'm not needed, I'm just dependent on you to be needed.'"
Some critics fear that people will eventually abandon their jobs altogether and rely more on aid funding than on investing in the future. OpenResearch countered that the choices made by all participants showed that time away from work was something they valued very much. "If OpenResearch is doing the right thing, then he's proving that 'money can buy time' is doable."
News and picture sources: Forbes, Wired, some pictures from the Internet
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