By Eduardo Porter
Publication Date: 2026-02-23 11:00:00
How are we fed? That’s the biggest question that isn’t being seriously answered with all the talk about whether artificial intelligence will eventually take over all our jobs.
As impressive as the technology seems, similar fears have resurfaced since the Industrial Revolution, and most working-age adults remain in the workforce. What is sorely missing, however, is a serious debate about what to do if that future actually comes to pass.
For Sam Altman of Open AI, “the future can be far better than the present” because AI will make us filthy rich. But that seems like a risky assumption for almost everyone except Altman and his fellow techno-oligarchs.
Even if AI generates enormous economic wealth, its spread remains a political challenge. At this point, a serious, open debate is needed about how the fruits of this prosperity will be shared among humanity.
The answer to this question consists of two parts. The first is about how to design a technically effective solution…
