Universal Basic Income Could Be Used To Soften Hit From AI Job Losses In UK, Minister Says (theguardian.com)
- Reference: 0180694234
- News link: https://news.slashdot.org/story/26/01/29/2330216/universal-basic-income-could-be-used-to-soften-hit-from-ai-job-losses-in-uk-minister-says
- Source link: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/jan/29/universal-basic-income-used-cover-ai-job-losses-minister-says
> The UK [1]could introduce a universal basic income (UBI) to protect workers in industries that are being disrupted by AI, the investment minister Jason Stockwood has said. "Bumpy" changes to society caused by the introduction of the technology would mean there would have to be "some sort of concessionary arrangement with jobs that go immediately", Lord Stockwood said. The Labour peer told the Financial Times: "Undoubtedly we're going to have to think really carefully about how we soft-land those industries that go away, so some sort of [universal basic income], some sort of lifelong mechanism as well so people can retrain."
>
> A universal basic income is not part of official government policy, but when asked whether people in government were considering the need for UBI, Stockwood told the FT: "People are definitely talking about it." [...] While he has previously been a vocal proponent of a wealth tax in the UK, Stockwood [2]told the FT he had not repeated his calls for the government to go further on taxing the rich. However, he added: "If you make your money and the first thing you do is you speak to a tax adviser to ask: 'Where can we pay the lowest tax?' we don't want those people in this country, I'd suggest, because you're not committed to your communities and the long-term success in this country."
[1] https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/jan/29/universal-basic-income-used-cover-ai-job-losses-minister-says
[2] https://www.ft.com/content/3ebc4947-c7f7-4d79-ab69-6dad430d054b
No. Just No. (Score:3)
There are no AI job losses in the UK or anywhere else. Maybe a few call center jobs. The rest is just excuses for a restructuring. But this is par for the course: everyone is using AI to push their own agenda.
As an aside: this Be Quiet brand keyboard is both the best and the worst keyboard I have ever had. It is quiet...It bloody is, and a joy to type on... But it also suffers from double keystrokes / bouncing.
Actually, yes, only different is its white collar (Score:1)
> There are no AI job losses in the UK or anywhere else.
Really, try getting a software development job without some skill at integrating an AI assistant into your workflow.
Moving from hand crafted to machine made has put people out of work, or made them less employable.
You are correct that this is nothing new. What is new here is that white collar jobs are affected this time. If it were just the usual blue collar folks displaced we'd hardly be talking about it.
Yes people will transition, as they always have. I welcome the former javascript coders to the
nearly a decade of "AI" hype (Score:3)
And I have yet to see anyone verifiably fired because of "AI" - that is - fired and their job replaced by the LLM.
Anyone having specific examples?
Re: (Score:1)
You haven't noticed how many call centers have changed to LLM based phone trees? Some of them are actually decent.
Re: nearly a decade of "AI" hype (Score:2)
I have not used a call center in any capacity, ever. It is a world beyond my comprehension, really, I'm not even sure it exists.
Re: (Score:2)
Wait... so you never noticed that people who answer phone support tend to have accents?
Re: nearly a decade of "AI" hype (Score:2)
No, I haven't. I go for human service, saves me a lot of trouble.
Re: (Score:2)
Hmm, they're still human, I'm not sure what you're trying to imply and I'm probably better off not knowing.
Like it matters. (Score:2)
> And I have yet to see anyone verifiably fired because of "AI" - that is - fired and their job replaced by the LLM.
> Anyone having specific examples?
Honest question: The fuck is that going to really matter?
You act as if you've got a right-to-work legal firm with a Larry Ellison amount of leverage behind them that's going to somehow make a difference when people start listing "AI" as the reason they got fired.
I got fired during the dot bomb for "vaporware" reasons. Are you shocked I haven't gotten my reparations by now? Do you think it's coming for "AI" defendants at some point?
Re: Like it matters. (Score:2)
> You act as if you've got a right-to-work legal firm
In fact I do, it is called the government.
Hardly my fault that you've let your Larry Ellison buy yours and have it work for him and not for you. Get your bootstrapped individualist 2nd amendment ass a bit more involved and get your government to work for you and not for Ellison.
Magic money (Score:2)
Where is all the money for this UBI going to come from?
Tax the rich?
Yeah, that's not working now so I don't see it working just because UBI is a thing.
The sad reality is that AI is likely to cause major financial stress, regardless of whether there's a bubble or not. Once AI improves worker productivity by a huge amount there will be job losses. That loss of jobs means less money in the economy to purchase goods and services. Reduced demand means reduced profits for the companies that employed AI in the
Funding (Score:2)
I've actually supported a UBI in the USA for years. That said, my UBI is a lot less generous than most, making it easier to finance.
Anyways:
$500/month (well, $600 now). Get a job if you want to live in an expensive area or not have roommates.
Eliminate most other forms of welfare. This actually funds the lion's share of it. Biggest exemption would be medical, because that's too uneven of an expense.
Flatten the tax brackets to tax most of the UBI back from people actually working or otherwise earning mone
not a UBI (Score:3)
If it is being targetted at specific industries then it is by definition NOT a Universal Basic income
Re: 13th Amendment For Americans (Score:1)
Jesus fucking Christ who the fuck coded this site what a fucking piece of shit And devs come here still? When they canâ(TM)t handle basic text formatting? I mean FFS, this wouldâ(TM)ve been unacceptable shit back in the 90s What a fucking joke. Shut this shithole down
Re: 13th Amendment For Americans (Score:2)
Even the Egyptian pharaoh knew that slave labor isn't useful for great achievements like conquering the neighboring tribes or building the pyramids. Eventually the trumpistani society will also develop to that level, or disappear.
Re: (Score:2)
You skipped step 3?
Unemployment (Score:2)
Isn't that supposed to be covered by unemployment benefits?
Re: Unemployment (Score:2)
No, unemployment benefits deal with frictional unemployment. The short-term, between jobs kind.
Structural unemployment, which is what allegedly the llms are about to unleash has always been dealt with by a more complex policy.
Re: (Score:2)
Which is called disability and also exists.
In any case, nobody is starving to death so that is a de factor guaranteed minimum income.
Re: (Score:1)
No, that is absolutely not the definition of disability. If you think you can get disability checks just because you haven't been able to get a job for a long time you are as out of touch with reality as Trump.
Re: Unemployment (Score:2)
Oh please learn what those words mean. Disability is something entirely different from structural unemployment.
Re: (Score:2)
[1]Is it though? [washingtonpost.com]
In any case my point was simply that there already are government programs that support people long-term. How to do it is not unknown.
[1] https://www.washingtonpost.com/sf/local/2017/03/30/disabled-or-just-desperate/
Re: Unemployment (Score:2)
Rural Americans have been supportint the policies that hurt them for a very long time now, so perhaps they have grounds to claim disability of a certain kind.
Re: (Score:2)
Yes. Yes it is. It's completely different, and you are one phenomenally stupid motherfucker.
Re: (Score:2)
Yes but if you're dealing with mass unemployment due to AI, why set up a UBI when you could expand unemployment instead?
Re: Unemployment (Score:2)
The theory behind UBI that I've heard is that it saves on administrative procedures. A lot.
Imagine UBI exists.
All the right wing nut talking points about "fraud" would disappear and all those billions spent on ICE and the like would go to the people.
Or some such.
Unemployment vs. Unemployable. (Score:2)
> Isn't that supposed to be covered by unemployment benefits?
NO current system is prepared for permanent human unemployable status.
UBI is nothing more than Welfare 2.0 until Greed N. Corruption is forced to give a shit otherwise.
What's in a UBI name? Nothing without proper funding to keep the pitchfork-armed masses at bay.
Re: Unemployment vs. Unemployable. (Score:2)
> NO current system is prepared for permanent human unemployable status.
What gives you this idea? Permanently unemployable status has been the norm for large swats of society for ages.
And the idea that the llms will put all people out of work is just a fantasy of a few misguided imbeciles who live in a feedback-less world because of the low taxes they pay and their echo chamber.
Re: (Score:2)
> What gives you this idea? Permanently unemployable status has been the norm for large swats of society for ages.
Care to name a few examples? Time, place, percentages? How the nation in question dealt with it?
Because the one that comes to mind would be France, just before the French revolution, where a lot of the nobility lost their heads. Personally, I'd rather not see people losing their heads.
That said, I support a UBI, but as replacing most other forms of welfare.
My rough US example:
1. $600/month for US citizens, non-us citizen legal immigrants get a tax deduction instead that adds up to the $600 for their earn
Re: Unemployment vs. Unemployable. (Score:2)
Not now because I have to go to buy milk and then work, but later in the evening I might. Really, you could probably ask the LLM to produce a list for you, it does have a lot of history books distilled and quantized so that you don't need me.
One class were the many poor in Europe in the early middle ages, they were sent on crusades, lead by the heirless offpring of their tribal chieftains.
Re: (Score:2)
>> NO current system is prepared for permanent human unemployable status.
> What gives you this idea? Permanently unemployable status has been the norm for large swats of society for ages.
Yeah. And they've been designed and funded specifically for retirement age. Not college-graduate age. BIG fucking difference.
> And the idea that the llms will put all people out of work is just a fantasy of a few misguided imbeciles who live in a feedback-less world because of the low taxes they pay and their echo chamber.
Understand that YOU were hired on the basis of good enough. You are not the prefect employee. You were never the perfect employee. You were merely good enough.
The toddler-grade AI that we have today, is good enough to replace enough humans to cause mass chaos. NO government is ready to handle even a 20% unemployable rate. Much less 50%.
You will wake up eventually. I promise.
Re: Unemployment vs. Unemployable. (Score:2)
We don't have "AI", we have a massive resource waste in the hope that it will produce "AI". The LLM cannot even replace a creative tiktoker, nevermind someone who produces a value.
And that at the cost of destroying the future [1]https://m.slashdot.org/story/4... [slashdot.org]
[1] https://m.slashdot.org/story/451954