With ChatGPT's popularity on the rise, and its striking work ethic at the forefront of the conversation, it's no wonder that a vast majority of concerns now lean toward job loss in the automation age. In his new book, Senator Bernie Sanders appears to address these growing fears by citing similar touchtones first conceived by none other than Microsoft's Bill Gates.
Titled 'It's Okay To Be Angry About Capitalism,' Sanders' new work paints an image of "what would be possible if the political revolution took place." Representing Vermont since 2007 as a senior senator under the US, Sanders' vehement anti-capitalism ideals need no introduction.
The book takes aim at major billionaires and seeks to show how those amog the 1 percent thrive in the face of a rigged economic system that keeps everyone else at bay.
Of major note is Sanders' discussions on technology and the way in which regulation should be adapted into the modern age. His arguments, however, hinder not only on the increased utilization of robots but also on their outward viability over humans. Sanders himself explains:
"If workers are going to be replaced by robots, as will be the case in many industries, we're going to need to adapt tax and regulatory policies," adding that they are implemented "to assure that the change does not simply become an excuse for race-to-the-bottom profittering by multinational corporations."
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Sanders also goes on to highlight remarks first brought to fruition by Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, who argued that robots should be required to pay taxes if they steal your job away. Gates' comments date back to 2017, when he sat down with Quartz to discuss the nature of automation and how governments oversee such advancements.
In the interview, the executive parallels the average human worker's salary and taxation with that of a robot coming in to do the job in their place, saying that "you'd think that we'd tax the robot at a similar level."
Sanders seemingly approves with these sentiments, as he explains, like Gates, that such a robot-tax could be put to good use. Sanders specifically notes funnelling such funds into jobs necessitating "human empathy and understanding," like child and elder care, education, and human resources, to name a few.
It's not always the case for the senator to take sides with Gates, after all the latter is a multi-billionaire. Sanders came under fire in 2019 after taking aim at Gates over taxation, despite the executive's well-documented history of philanthropy, including over $36 billion alone spent on malaria, polio, and HIV impact across the globe, as well as tens of billions in tax.
The irony doesn't fall on deaf ears either, as Sanders' more recent promotional event for his book drew ire for its highly priced seats. And while such concepts as ChatGPT and Google's own iteration prove to entice the masses with interesting extracurricular activities, the likelihood for their total domination of the human work force is slim - for now, at least. Even robot taxation could have its flaws, in the end, serving repucarions not only on select businesses, but also the overall economy, given how widely tech-influenced it has become.
To better understand this very concept, MIT published an in-depth look into the viability of a robot-tax at the tail end of 2022. The report not only noted Gates' initial concepts, but also highlights the EU's dropped legislative efforts on the matter and South Korea's payment reductions on companies leveraging robots.
Arnaud Costinot, the paper's co-author and an MIT economist, explains "that taxes on either robots or imported goods should be pretty small," pointing out that a 1 to 3.7 percent tax on robots would be more than sufficient.
The automation age will no sooner be upon us, but it shouldn't bring too much of a fright just yet. Images not only of a dwindling workforce but of a Skynet-ruled globe may well be at an all-time high, but there's still a very long road ahead before robots begin to really take hold over the human workforce.
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