Universal Basic Income in the Age of AI | ETHBoulder with William Le

Описание: In this thought-provoking session at ETHBoulder, William Le explores one of the most debated ideas in modern economics:

Does AI make universal basic income inevitable?

Drawing from his experience launching the world’s largest UBI program in Kenya with GiveDirectly and contributing to multiple crypto-native UBI experiments, William breaks down both the promise and the skepticism around UBI.

The talk explores:

• What UBI actually is (and what it isn’t)
• Why Switzerland & Germany voted against UBI
• Inflation myths & labor participation data
• Students & caregivers misunderstood “work reduction.”
• Why UBI is expensive and what that means
• 800 years of productivity vs wage divergence
• AI acceleration & the automation debate
• Is this time different from past tech revolutions?
• Can crypto make UBI more feasible?
• GoodDollar, ImpactMarket & on-chain experiments
• Distribution efficiency vs funding reality
• Political will vs technical feasibility

This isn’t a pitch for or against UBI.

It’s an invitation to think clearly about how we redesign economic systems in a world of accelerating automation.

ETHBoulder isn’t just about scaling Ethereum.
It’s about scaling economic imagination.

https://ethboulder.xyz/
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https://x.com/FreeWillLe
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Timestamps

00:00 – Introduction: UBI in the Age of AI
01:00 – What Universal Basic Income Actually Means
02:30 – Live Audience Referendum Thought Experiment
03:50 – Why Most Countries Reject UBI (Switzerland & Germany Votes)
05:00 – Arguments For UBI (Security & Creativity)
06:20 – Arguments Against UBI (Productivity & Misuse Concerns)
07:40 – Automation, Robots & Economic Collapse Debate
08:40 – Inflation & Work Incentive Evidence from Studies
10:10 – Is UBI Affordable? The Cost Problem
11:10 – Productivity vs Wages Over 800 Years
12:30 – Will AI Be Different From Past Technological Revolutions?
13:50 – Audience Poll: Is This Time Different?
15:00 – Can Crypto Make UBI Possible?
16:10 – Distribution Efficiency: Crypto vs Traditional Aid
17:10 – What Crypto Still Cannot Solve (Funding, Identity, Politics)
18:10 – Designing an economy with an Income Floor
19:00 – Final Vote & Closing Thoughts