Past waves of automation did not render human labor obsolete; instead, they generated additional jobs. However, with the democratization of AI, enabling virtually anyone to acquire, access, and develop AI technologies with minimal expertise and cost, is the situation different this time around? Research indicates that more than 50 percent of jobs are at risk of displacement in this “second machine age.” At current, the world is divided between technological optimists, or “business as usual”camp, who believe that unemployment caused by technological advancement is short-term, and technological pessimists, or “AI Apocalypse Now” camp who argue that technological unemployment is irreversible. Who is correct and who is mistaken?

This policy paper explores:

(1) The key arguments of “AI Apocalypse Now” and “Business as Usual” camp

(2) Argument presented by proponents of Luddite Fallacy, who argue that “AI Apocalypse Now” camp commits the fallacy that technology advancement will necessarily lead to technological unemployment, as well as rebuttals of this view. 

(3) Economical and philosophical issues such as inelastic demand, market saturation, market monopoly and monopsony, historical determinism, human biases in reports on the future of work, “bullshit jobs,” and the rise of precarious gig work. 

(4) The effectiveness of existing proposals and plans by the local government in addressing the issue of technological unemployment.

(5) Work ethic and centrality of work in human lives

(5) Policy suggestions, including Universal Basic Income and social welfare policies.