Initially, AI always leads to positive effects. Unpleasant, repetitive, and labor-intensive work processes can be automated; additionally, it can compensate for the lack of skilled workers. The result is a significant boost in productivity that propagates in waves from one industry to another. The first to be affected are areas dominated by repetitive and predictable tasks. Factory workers on assembly lines, or customer service employees whose tasks can be taken over by chatbots, are among the first to feel the changes. As the technology develops, increasingly complex activities are taken over by AI, which also affects higher-qualified professions. Therefore, the massive loss of jobs does not happen overnight but occurs in a gradual process and is delayed in time. Depending on the nature of the activity, job loss can happen immediately or years later. With every innovation that AI introduces into a new sector, jobs previously considered secure become obsolete. This affects not just industrial manufacturing but extends to retail, where self-service checkouts replace workers, and to the financial sector, where algorithmic trading challenges stock brokers. A significant aspect of this trend is that the loss of jobs in some areas is not necessarily compensated by new job opportunities in others. While some manage the transition and acquire new skills, others are left behind, facing an uncertain future with a shrinking number of available positions.
It is often said that every innovation, every new technology has led to the creation of new jobs and fields of work. This time it's different, and I notice that this is not being realized, which is dangerous. This is precisely one of the aspects that prevent necessary adjustments from being implemented early enough. An incredible number of new measures need to be developed to manage the impending social upheavals. This article lists only three known fiscal instruments, which are considered poison by some economic schools today, but which might be viewed differently under other conditions.
A capital gains tax could aim to tax the profits generated by technology more heavily, increasing public revenue. These funds could then be used to invest in education and retraining or to strengthen social safety nets. A machine tax, which taxes companies that deploy automation technologies, could also help offset the job losses caused by AI. Universal basic income (UBI) is another measure being intensively discussed. It would guarantee all citizens a regular, unconditional income, regardless of their employment situation. This could alleviate the social tensions caused by automation and AI by providing a minimum level of financial security to everyone.
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