Life 3.0: Being Human in the Age of Artificial Intelligence

by Max Tegmark

boost people’s sense of well-being and purpose, and found that some (but not all!) jobs can provide many of them, for example:57 a social network of friends and colleagues a healthy and virtuous lifestyle respect, self-esteem, self-efficacy and a pleasurable sense of “flow” stemming from doing something one is good at a sense of being needed and making a difference a sense of meaning from being part of and serving something larger than oneself This gives reason for optimism, since all of these things can be provided also outside of the workplace, for example through sports, hobbies and learning, and with families, friends, teams, clubs, community groups, schools, religious and humanist organizations, political movements and other institutions. To create a low-employment society that flourishes rather than degenerates into self-destructive behavior, we therefore need to understand how to help such well-being-inducing activities thrive. The quest for such an understanding needs to involve not only scientists and economists, but also psychologists, sociologists and educators. If serious efforts are put into creating well-being for all, funded by part of the wealth that future AI generates, then society should be able to flourish like never before. At a minimum, it should be possible to make everyone as happy as if they had their personal dream job, but once one breaks free of the constraint that everyone’s activities must generate income, the sky’s the limit.