If AI Causes a Mass Unemployment Crisis, Will the Public Explode Into Violence?

"But AI, more than any tech that came before it, represents the possibility of mass unemployment on an unprecedented scale. Since workers in market economies depend entirely on employment for survival, mass unemployment would leave untold millions of people without anything to lose. Whether AI actually causes that remains a topic of debate, but the outcome if it does could be widespread social upheaval."

"working class person's wellbeing in a market economy depends almost entirely on their employment, it's entirely possible that - if mass AI unemployment ever does genuinely hit, which to be fair is a major "if" - the conditions for serious social unrest could emerge."

"In the hotbed of dog-eat-dog capitalism that is the United States, anti AI-sentiment is already on the rise. The data centers underlining the AI boom are widely reviled, and a surprising number of workers are admitting to sabotaging their company's AI in the workplace. According to one survey, seven in ten people living in the US already think AI will make it harder to find work, a sentiment that isn't helped much by a horrible job market."

"That discontent, he notes, stems from increasingly undemocratic decisions: data centers forced on small towns without consent, nonstop surveillance by corporate security firms, and major government handouts for tech industry projects, to name just a few."

AI automation raises concerns about labor displacement and the possibility of mass unemployment on an unprecedented scale. In market economies, employment is central to survival, so large-scale job loss could leave millions without security and could produce widespread social upheaval. Whether AI causes this remains uncertain, but the potential impact is severe if it occurs. In the United States, anti-AI sentiment is increasing, with data centers widely criticized and some workers reportedly sabotaging workplace AI systems. Many people already believe AI will make it harder to find work, especially amid a weak job market. Political analysis links AI-driven structural conditions to populist backlash and political violence, citing undemocratic decisions such as forced data centers, surveillance, and government support for tech projects.

Read at Futurism