Is Automation Anxiety Cyclical?: Basic Income Proposals in the Ages of Cybernation and AI

Author: Henry Brandler

Field of Study: Economics; Cinema

Program Affiliation: Source Project Research Program

Faculty Mentors: Will Glovinsky

Easel: 29

Timeslot: Morning

Abstract: The 1960s and the 2020s have drawn comparison as two decades wracked with anxiety about automation and job displacement. Both have also seen mounting speculation about the need for a guaranteed income in the face of transformative technologies, such as cybernetics or artificial intelligence. However, many scholars, such as Miriam A. Cherry, Ben Roberts, and Caroline Bassett, argue that automation anxieties are cyclical and have not resulted in the anticipated disastrous consequences because job types change rather than jobs simply being removed. Using government documents and policy proposals, the paper discusses how reactions to automation developments form and examines the role that guaranteed income played in both time periods. It also breaks down the scholarly discussion by exposing why different figures, such as OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and former Stockton Mayor Michael Tubbs, support universal basic income, and how they use those ideas to create narratives about artificial intelligence.