This is a subject which I have been giving a lot of thought. We are dealing with a shift in the foundation of our economy. Economic productivity is changing the equation to the point where a massive shift is required by everyone.
Those who fail to see this are likely to fall behind.
With an agentic (AI) and robotic future emerging, the key components of economic output are being altered. Since the beginning of humanity, labor was a major piece of the equation.
That might not be the case in as little as 10 years.
So what are people going to do? This is something that we will attempt to answer in this article.
What happens when the jobs go away?
Some are starting to seriously look into this situation. For years, it was ignored since the belief was that more jobs would be created due to technology than lost.
The reality is that technology is deflationary. This means that costs come down, eliminating jobs. We are already starting to see it.
Let us look at transportation. For the moment, driving is one of the largest employers in the United States, with over 10 million jobs. We see the early signs of autonomy. What happens in, say, 10 years, when that technology is far more advanced? Those jobs are cooked.
Before we get to that, we are seeing bookkeepers, coders, accountants, and data analysis jobs at risk. Ultimately, teachers, lawyers, and even politicians (hopefully) could be replaced.
The basic formula for most is exchange time for resources, i.e. money. It became commonplace during the Industrial Revolution. This is a situation that dates back much further.
And it is all ending.
Going forward, capital is the only component that we are left with.
Cryptocurrency offers people a lifeboat. This is not due to the formation of an alternative financial system although that is likely. What is paramount is the fact that it allows people all over the world to gain capital.
Capital, used wisely, can compound.
When we look at the basis of our future, it is basically energy in, tokens out. This means knowledge work can be broken down to compute. Want to generate more tokens (economic output) simply add more compute.
Naturally, this requires capital.
Here is where the dilemma arises. People need to share in the economic benefits of the output. This means having a piece of the platform (application/network). Here is where cryptocurrency can change things.
Since everything is going to be tokenized, there is the potential for billions of people to own assets tied to compute. As these grow, the total value will appreciate as economic productivity accelerates.
The crypto world often talks about Lambos. I guess that is fine if one has tens of millions in BTC. However, for the masses, perhaps it is better to focus upon GPUs.
Having access to massive amounts of compute means people will have the ability to see their economic value increase. This is what capital does. Everything is going to break down to compute (actually energy behind it).
My view is that platforms which offer access to AI services will be the ones with value. That means the tokens associated with those are going to do well.
It is a rather simple formula that is emerging. Removing labor changes things in a way which benefits the capital players. To democratize this, people need to get involved. That requires resources.
Crypto could be the answer, at least in part, to this dilemma.
