Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates proposes introducing a tax on robots and designating certain types of work as reserved for humans to mitigate the negative consequences of artificial intelligence. He published a detailed essay on his website Gates Notes, in which he reflects on the social implications of AI development.
Gates largely supports the concept of Responsible AI and believes that the open letter ‘Pacing The Frontier,’ signed by employees of AI companies calling for a slowdown in technology development, is a good idea. At the same time, he expresses doubts about whether such an initiative will be sustainable in the long term. Gates also enthusiastically speaks about the benefits of AI for science and healthcare but expresses concern about its impact on the labor market.
Proposal for a robot tax
Meanwhile, the essay presents several truly new ideas that could change the discussion around AI if they gain support. In particular, Gates proposes introducing a ‘robot tax.’
Currently, if an employer hires a person, they pay taxes on the wages. But if they buy a robot, they can usually immediately write off its cost as a business expense. Thus, the tax system actually incentivizes replacing humans with machines.
In Gates’ opinion, such a tax could somewhat slow down the transition from human labor to machines and at the same time provide funds for retraining workers and strengthening social protection.
Jobs reserved for humans
Gates also proposes designating certain types of work as Human Reserved — meaning those where the use of AI to perform specific tasks would be prohibited. In his opinion, it would not be difficult for policymakers to implement such a system.
Certain professions or tasks may be reserved for humans for economic reasons. For example, this may be justified if transferring certain work to machines leads to large-scale job cuts, making it difficult for workers to change professions. You cannot simply tell a 55-year-old person who has worked in the construction industry all their life that they now need to work in elderly care and expect that such a change will bring them satisfaction.
At the same time, the decision on which areas to reserve for humans may be determined by other factors. For example, in healthcare, one can imagine a robot informing a patient of terrible news about an incurable disease. Technically, there is no reason why a machine could not do this. However, in Gates’ opinion, this should not happen.
The list of tasks reserved for humans may change over time. For example, some professions can be reserved for humans now and then gradually introduce AI over the years or decades, while guaranteeing the preservation of some jobs.
It is also worth noting that both proposals could significantly reduce the profits of large AI laboratories, which may explain why such ideas have not been widely discussed so far.
In addition, there are many unresolved issues: who exactly will set such rules and what they will be if they are ultimately introduced.
Source: TechCrunch
