If robots take your job, don’t panic — simply turn into a farmer or a musician. That’s the blunt future envisioned by Zoho founder Sridhar Vembu, who says the true menace from AI isn’t mass unemployment, however a damaged financial system that might let tech monopolies hoard all of the positive aspects.
In a publish on X, Vembu tackled the doomsday situation of full AI-driven software program automation. “We’re nowhere near that objective,” he clarified, however requested: if machines in the future substitute all coders, “how do individuals afford all the products that pour out of automated factories that make use of no employees?”
The answer, he argued, isn’t technological — it’s financial. One path is that robot-made items turn into so low cost they’re basically free. “Respiration air prices us zero and we do not complain about it,” he famous. However the extra probably consequence? The few human-centered jobs left — from caregiving to agriculture — turn into the brand new high-paying work, as a result of individuals will nonetheless worth what machines can’t replicate.
“Taking good care of kids, dwelling cooked meals, nursing sick individuals… native dwell performing musicians… forest restoration specialists” — all these, Vembu mentioned, may turn into premium professions if the financial system adjusts correctly.
That adjustment, nevertheless, hinges on governments. “One key half is for governments to crack down on monopolies, significantly tech monopolies,” he wrote. Solely then, he argues, will automation’s advantages be broadly shared and costs replicate AI’s ultra-low manufacturing prices.
Vembu’s publish ends on a provocative observe: “There shall be at the very least one nation on the planet that will get the political financial system proper.” The message? AI gained’t resolve who wins sooner or later — coverage will.
