AI could eliminate 100 million jobs from the US alone

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Senator Bernie Sanders is once again shaking his fist at the billionaire class, but this time, he’s pointing it straight at the machines. 

The Vermont senator has unveiled a fiery new proposal aimed at what he calls one of the biggest economic threats of our time: AI automation. 

His new report paints a bleak picture of the decade ahead, warning that “AI and automation could destroy nearly 100 million US jobs” if left unchecked. (Via: Fortune)

At the heart of Sanders’ argument is a familiar grievance: workers are getting stiffed. 

Despite massive leaps in technology and productivity since the 1970s, the average American worker is earning less, about $30 less a week, to be exact. 

Meanwhile, corporate profits have ballooned 370 percent. In other words, machines got smarter, bosses got richer, and paychecks stayed stuck in the past. 

Economists call it the productivity-wage gap. Sanders calls it a rigged system.

Enter his solution: a “robot tax.” The idea is simple: if a corporation replaces human workers with AI or automation, it pays a tax that helps fund displaced workers. 

Think of it as a financial seatbelt for when the robot revolution hits the freeway. 

The report describes it as a “direct excise tax” on the tech itself, redistributing wealth from companies back to the people they’ve automated out of existence.

If that sounds familiar, it’s because even Bill Gates has floated the same idea, yes, the billionaire himself. 

Sanders’ critics say this might mean his plan isn’t as radical as it sounds. Still, his proposal echoes calls for a universal basic income (UBI), except targeted directly at workers affected by automation.

Of course, there’s the question of whether this robot apocalypse will even happen. AI isn’t exactly minting gold yet. 95% of companies adopting it are still losing money. 

But Sanders isn’t taking chances. As he wrote in his book, It’s OK to Be Angry About Capitalism, if robots are coming for our jobs, it’s time to make them pay union dues.