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Letters | How AI idea from US democrat can work, as Hong Kong turns grey
- Andrew Yang, a US Democratic presidential hopeful, proposes taxing AI and robots
- Hong Kong can use such creative taxation to counter the AI jobs threat and cushion the blow for its rapidly ageing society
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On June 26 and 27, as many as 20 Democratic candidates will line up for their first debates for the 2020 United States presidential race. Among them will be Andrew Yang, an Asian American former tech executive, who will share the stage with heavyweight candidates Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders.
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While Yang has little chance of winning the nomination, his campaign platform with more than 100 policy ideas, including universal basic income, should inspire more politicians in the US and around the world to consider the risks and opportunities of a world economy dominated by artificial intelligence (AI) and automation in the not-so-distant future.
One such concern pertains to the wide-scale replacement of jobs with AI. According to Yang, President Donald Trump was ultimately elected because four million manufacturing jobs had been automated in the key Trump states of Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.
Yet, these are not the only jobs in jeopardy; artificial intelligence also threatens office positions requiring professional skills. IBM has reportedly saved almost US$300 million by applying machine learning to its human resources management system. Research also finds that, by 2038, over one million jobs in Hong Kong will be at risk including for secretaries, accountants and auditors.
To help Americans brace for this impending economic impact, Yang proposes a monthly income of US$1,000 for every adult US citizen, or the “freedom dividend”, which he claims can be financed by a value-added tax imposed on AI and robots. Although the universal basic income may not be financially feasible and could disincentivise people to work, the need to maintain an acceptable living standard in a potentially AI-dominated economy deserves further consideration.
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