Morawiecki announced a new benefit. Money for… nothing
During today’s expose, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki emphasized that a discussion about introducing a basic income should be started. These are fixed payments for every citizen, regardless of whether they work or not. The introduction of such a benefit is being discussed in connection with the development of artificial intelligence.
On Monday, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki presented his government’s expose. The head of government talked about the achievements of his cabinet so far and presented the challenges for the future, emphasizing that “questions about the future of Poland require us to think in terms of the next decade, not the terms of office.”
Prime Minister on the introduction of basic income
Morawiecki drew attention to the challenge facing the labor market due to developing technology and artificial intelligence. – We must think how to live well in a world where there will be no work as we know it today – said the Prime Minister.
Morawiecki argued that Poland should create “laboratories of the future” in which it will create solutions that will protect Poles against a decline in living standards due to the takeover of work by artificial intelligence. – It will happen sooner than you expect – emphasized the head of government.
According to the Prime Minister, a discussion on basic income should be started. This idea is appearing more and more often in connection with the upcoming AI revolution. It is about fixed payments for every citizen, regardless of whether they work or not, intended to ensure a minimum standard of living. Its financing may come from taxing the work of algorithms and/or robots.
The Prime Minister did not specify the amount in which basic income would be paid, nor did he indicate the date of its possible introduction.
Will AI take our jobs? The expert calms down
Researcher of new technologies prof. Aleksandra Przegalińska emphasized in an interview with radiozet.pl that apocalyptic visions of mass layoffs caused by tasks being taken over by AI are unlikely to come true.
– When it comes to the latest predictions about what people will be leading in for a very long time, taking into account the development of technology, these are tasks related to physical work. Very often crafts, construction work, but also the work of people who often have to be physically active and take care of other people, for example nurses. These are professions in which contact with other people is very important, there are many such professions and it seems that it would be very sad and not good if algorithms replaced this work – says prof. Przegalińska.
– Physical work will also defend itself, because robotics, unlike language or image generators, is not developing very quickly – he adds.
According to the expert, it is unlikely that “artificial intelligence itself will take anyone’s job directly. – What we have observed in previous years are certain changes in employment that took place in factories and industrial spaces, where automation was progressing, robots and machines appeared, which were efficient enough and at the same time powered by artificial intelligence algorithms that they were able to do something just “good”. I came across 2-3 times in the press that various publications wrote that a number of people had been laid off in a given factory. It can be said that artificial intelligence contributed to this, but it itself has not done anything of the sort – explains the researcher.
Prof. Przegalińska, however, points out that thanks to artificial intelligence we can work shorter hours and it will be possible to introduce a 4-day working week.
