thomblake comments on What jobs are safe in an automated future? - Less Wrong Discussion
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We'll probably redefine 'job' long before we've lost them all. As humans lose the ability to work for a living, we'll stop pretending we do need to work for a living. Then, we'll still have professions for the prestige and whatnot that goes along with it, even if everything truly useful can be done by machines instead.
I predict that the transition period between modern capitalism and post-capitalism will be very awkward and uncomfortable, as the number of jobs that it is economical for a human to perform slowly shrinks and shrinks, putting more people in unemployment. Assuming no singularity beforehand, the point at which we collectively decide that everyone gets a good quality of life provided for them without having to work for it will probably come long after the point at which it is warranted.
Indeed, there are plenty of people who think we're already way past the point at which it's warranted.