Employers expect to slow hiring next quarter, but AI talent is top of mind

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Famed Silicon Valley investor Vinod Khosla thinks artificial intelligence will be able to do 80% of the work of 80% of jobs.

That will mean humans have a lot more free time because the value of our labor will fall. One way to cushion the blow: universal basic income.

Khosla, who cofounded Sun Microsystems and who has invested in OpenAI, wrote in a lengthy post on the website of his eponymous venture capital firm that AI would reduce costs and make expertise nearly free.

That means everyone from doctors to those in sales to people who work on farms and assembly lines could see AI take over much of their work — and mostly do it better, he wrote.

"As AI reduces the need for human labor, UBI could become crucial, with governments playing a key role in regulating AI's impact and ensuring equitable wealth distribution," Khosla said.

Advocates of universal basic income, including Silicon Valley luminaries like Elon Musk and OpenAI's Sam Altman, have said it could help blunt disparities that threaten to widen as AI absorbs aspects of jobs — or replaces some roles altogether.

AI isn't like other technological advances

Khosla, who described himself as an "unapologetic capitalist and technology optimist," contends that widespread payments to supplement income will likely be necessary, at least for a time, because AI isn't like many recent technological advances.

The microprocessor, the internet, and the mobile phone emerged as tools humans could use, he said, but "AI, by contrast, amplifies and multiplies the human brain much as the advent of steam engines and motors amplified muscle power."

He expects AI to drive down costs well beyond what the microprocessor could. In addition to making all expertise broadly available and nearly free, Khosla expects AI will usher in everything from bipedal robots to cheaper materials — including metals and drugs by supercharging science and the discovery of materials.