Universal basic income could be used to mitigate the impact of AI job losses in the UK, the minister says

The UK could introduce a universal basic income to protect workers in industries disrupted by AI, Investment Minister Jason Stockwood has said.

“Bumpy” changes in society caused by the introduction of technology would mean there would have to be “some sort of concessionary arrangement with jobs going away immediately,” Lord Stockwood said.

The Labor politician told the Financial Times: “There’s no doubt that we need to think really carefully about how we soft-land the industries that are disappearing, so some kind of (universal basic income), also some kind of lifelong mechanism, so that people can retrain.”

A universal basic income is not part of official government policy, but when asked whether the government was considering the need for a basic income, Stockwood told the FT: “People are definitely talking about it.”

The tech entrepreneur, who took up his ministerial post in September, said part of his motivation for joining government was to help…