You can listen to the audio format of this article via SoundCloud by clicking here: http://bit.ly/30Wpx2S
At MX3 CS we find ways to generate passive income from machines. Why is this important? Well, I predict that if you have a well-paid white-collar job, Artificial Intelligent will destroy your livelihood. Not convinced? You only need to look at what is happening with blue-collar jobs. Millions of people have already been replaced by industrial robots, and we are only at the beginning of the transition. The next generation of low-skilled workers will increasingly struggle to earn an honest living because machine automation will be able to easily outperform them. Machines are an employer’s dream because they don’t complain, they don’t get tired, and they never quit. So let’s assign meaningless but necessary tasks to machines, and redeploy human capital in areas of the Human Economy where it’s most needed.
The value created by machines will be taxed, and that could be used to pay for some form of universal basic income. However, the true winners will be those who claim their stake in the Machine Economy. At MX3 CS we get a share of the revenues earned by blockchain-powered machines so that even when we sleep we are generating income.
I predict that passive machine income in most developed nations will at some point make work an antiquated notion. Free time will be spent doing leisure activities and meaningful tasks like hobbies, charity work, and caring for loved ones. Only jobs that machines do badly and humans do well such as caring, entertaining, and creating will remain and they will become highly prized. In fact, the way human capital is valued will be completely upended and ironically this will be made possible by the Machine Economy.
In addition to helping humans become more human, machine automation will also enable us to save the planet. In case you hadn’t noticed, the world is running out of resources. As I see it this leaves three options; interstellar colonisation, depopulation, or resource efficiency.
Most people I know, including myself, aspire to act responsibly. It’s good to be green — providing (here’s the clincher) it doesn’t actually impact our lives too much! Recycling is relatively easy to do and makes one feel good, but giving up meat and air travel? Well, that’s an entirely different level of sacrifice that most people are not willing to make. That’s why governments and various well-funded institutions are on a mission to “help” us make responsible choices.
As an entrepreneur and self-proclaimed Capitalist Libertarian, I’ve always challenged the status quo. Compliance and learned helplessness has never really been my thing. However, I do understand that if the future of the planet is left in the hands of individuals a Tragedy of the Commons outcome is quite likely.
That’s why institutions and central governments have taken it upon themselves to save us from ourselves. It appears that the World Economic Forum is singing from the same song sheet. They posited a few years ago that we should own nothing and be happy. Last year’s agenda; the “Great Reset” was no less controversial. According to Reuters, doing away with ownership was not their stated goal, but purely a prediction. Either way, it ignited a Twitter storm and much-heated discussion.
Ref: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svyCzsen0nU
I have no idea if the WEF is run by a bunch of harmless do-gooders or powerful elitists who want to take over the world — I’ll let you decide. However, the concept of shifting from ownership to on-demand does make sense. If you get over the Soviet-era undertones, I think the fundamental tenet of this ideology has merit. I’m already a huge fan of Uber and Airbnb so what’s not to like? Even Tesla may buy into this brave new way of doing things. It appears that future fully autonomous models will be able to become driverless taxis when not being used by their owners.
Personally, I don’t have a problem with people owning things as status symbols and consuming more than they need. Inequality is an acceptable byproduct of freedom. However, I do believe we should all make a concerted effort to fully utilise the things we already own and try to avoid gratuitous purchases. However nanny-state government intervention is not the answer. Offering better alternatives is a far better solution. I remember when everyone really cared about owning music and movies. I know people who treated their collections as if they were a vital organ, so they would have regarded Spotify and Netflix as anathema. Today we embrace it as a painless and convenient way to consume content without the hassle of ownership. I predict a similar thing will happen to all those coveted possessions we surround ourselves with — most of which are collecting dust in the garage or attic!
That’s why at MX3 CS we are working on a solution that will enable manufacturers to replace upfront payment (purchase/ownership) with usage-based payment (on-demand/usage). Although the exact process is patent-pending, the general concept is far from unique. We’re just applying on-demand payment models to real-world assets in a new and novel way. Although the concept has been many years in the making, we have only recently been able to move forward as a result of the maturation of enabling technologies. It was the same for streaming services. Like us, they had to wait until broadband became ubiquitous. Business is like fine wine — if you don’t open it at the right time you might as well not bother.
As we are focusing on industrial machines (see below) one positive outcome of Covid19 is that it has accelerated digital transformation. For our concept to be feasible the physical asset must have connectivity and sensors embedded within it. Prior to Covid19 it was a case of either retro-fitting tech to aging assets (prohibitively expensive) or waiting for them to be replaced by newer connected aka “smart” models. Also sparked by the Covid-induced global economic slowdown- as a way of softening the impact, the Chinese government has ramped up spending on domestic infrastructure projects. This has driven up the price of scrap materials, which has made the decommissioning of industrial machines like vehicles, ships, and aircraft far more attractive. When the economy rebounds we will see a huge number of shiny new low-carbon machines entering service that will have connectivity built-in as standard. This will make automation and usage-based payment models far easier to implement. It’s an exciting time to be working in this space, and I look forward to reporting on our progress.
