http://static5.businessinsider.com/image/575587fbdd089535488b47e7-1190-625/heres-how-much-wed-all-get-if-the-uk-introduced-a-fiscally-neutral-universal-basic-income-scheme.jpg
<i>http://www.businessinsider.com/universal-basic-income-scheme-for-the-uk-2016-6</i>

<b>As AI and automation displace more and more jobs, is UBI inevitable, and can Steemit bring order and purpose to people in an unprecedented economic system?</b>

Many people have speculated that in the coming decades, computers will displace up to half or even more of our current workforce. When this happens, either tens of millions of new jobs will be created in some unforeseen industry -- jobs only humans can do -- or an entirely new economic model will need to be devised. What many people speculate that will be is a universal basic income (UBI), where everyone is given a basic income regardless of work, merit, or any other factor. 

There would still be some workers -- and of course the owners of the machines -- and they would presumably be much richer than someone relying only on UBI. There is a strong argument that this will lead to a utopian society, and an equally compelling argument that  it will be a dystopian nightmare. I'm not going to weigh in on that here, but rather try to examine the role that a platform like Steemit could play in this type of society, and how it could help make it a better place. 

<h2>A world of UBI</h2>

Let's presume a world with UBI that looks fairly like the world we have today in developed nations. Even among the people who can't find jobs, some will still be smarter and more ambitious than others and will find ways to increase their incomes. Others will be happy enough scraping by with just what they have. I suspect a future that looks like this will have a lot of this

https://ichef-1.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/15A0C/production/_83788588_vr_game_cieslak.jpg
<i>cr. http://www.bbc.com/news/av/technology-33230703/exploring-360-degree-game-play</i>

and also quite a bit of this

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/QLO2Ncc98Hc/maxresdefault.jpg
<i>cr. https://www.girlsaskguys.com/girls-behavior/a33845-gender-wars-why-men-are-threatened-by-smart-funny-women</i>

probably quite a lot of this too

https://pedacicosarquitectonicos.files.wordpress.com/2016/03/pedacicos-today-lider.jpg
<i>cr. https://pedacicosarquitectonicos.com/2016/03/01/pedacicos-today-conviertete-en-un-arquitecto-del-star-system-en-5-sencillos-pasos/</i>

But there will also be a lot of people who need something more to do to feel complete. This is where I believe a community like Steemit could actually change the world. The dystopia of a world lived out in virtual reality could be overcome by a financial incentive to create compelling content for a community. When everyone has enough money to cover their basic needs, they will also have a lot of time, time which can be spent creating and/or consuming content. 

On Steemit, good content is rewarded financially which creates incentives to create more good content, creating a virtuous cycle. In this imagined future society, future Steemit would make everyone better off. A small number of people on future Steemit would get rich, many others would earn a nice living above and beyond their UBS, and everyone would get great content and lead a more fulfilled life. 

<h2>Won't computers be the creators?</h2>

One argument I anticipate against this is that computers will also be the creators in this future, making humans irrelevant here too. I do believe that computers will eventually be able to create beautiful works of art, but they will never be tastemakers. Art, style and culture are always changing, and while I have no doubt computers will influence this, it will still be primarily driven by us. Human taste is irrational and thus unable to be predicted by a computer. I further believe that humans will always have a bias toward work created by humans. Sure there will be bot accounts on future Steemit creating good content, but the top creators and earners on future Steemit will inevitably be human. 

Nobody knows what the future will hold, and a UBI is nowhere near a certainty. Even if it becomes a reality nobody can foresee the conditions society will have at that time or how people will react to it. Still I think the scenario imagined here is fairly plausible, and I do believe that a platform like Steemit could be a huge stabilizing force both on the natural economic order of the world, and on the wellbeing of people's lives.  

<center>I'd love to hear your arguments either supporting this, 
expanding on it, or against it if you think it's wrong. 
Thanks for reading!</center>