When 170 professions face a 90%-plus probability of algorithmic obsolescence, automation apocalypse threat becomes imminent. Taxpayer-funded multi-trillion dollar UBI is being explored as a solution. We propose an alternate zero-cost solution: EMI (earned minimum income).

This article is a continuation of an earlier post by AlgoShare —  UBI: A $3 Trillion Behemoth America Mulls.

Robotics and AI are taking automation to a level where depleting jobs pose a new threat of worsening poverty levels. The idea of UBI has found growing support in Silicon Valley as algorithms threaten to radically change the nature of work..

From Elon Musk to Facebook founders Mark Zuckerberg, Chris Hughes and a host of other tech biggies have got down to:
"Rethinking Inequality and How We Earn" - Chris Hughes

While Silicon Valley is excited, the other side of the Atlantic is no less gung-ho over UBI. Even before Sir Richard Branson endorsed UBI suggesting that the extreme wealth that will be generated by the AI should be partly redistributed as UBI.

The Unconditional Basic Income Europe (UBIE), in its March 2015 General Assembly, declared their mission statement:
"Unconditional Basic Income Europe (UBIE) is an international network connecting activists and initiatives from 25 countries. We advocate for the implementation of Basic Income in Europe and its recognition as a Universal Human Right. As a result of our efforts, basic income is now entering the policy agenda in many European countries and on EU level."

Not just "rethinking inequality and how we earn," Facebook cofounder Chris Hughes, ebay cofounders Pierre and Pam Omidyar, are actually funding UBI trials.

Startup incubator Y-Combinator is in the midst of one such study in the Bay Area, and its president, Sam Altman, and Chris Hughes have kicked in $10 million towards UBI research.

Andrew Yang, a Democrat is running his "Freedom Dividend" themed Presidential campaign on the UBI agenda. UBI is undoubtedly the new need of the hour.

New Need Comes With New Costs

Whenever a state encounters a new need in society, the new need adds a new cost. Whenever there's a new cost, the state adds a new tax to pay for that new cost. That's how our traditional centralized economic systems work.
Neutralizing algorithmic obsolescence, or technological unemployment, or automation apocalypse, as some claim, is, therefore, a new need of the 21st century. UBI is fast catching up as a new solution that state's need to implement at taxpayers' expense. The costs involved are enormous - $3 trillion in US alone! A big, rather insurmountable, challenge for the governments of the world.

If algorithms are making some of the income-generating activities obsolete, shouldn't a solution be explored in developing new algorithms that neutralize the obsolescence? Can algorithmic thinking evolve a solution?

Or,

Should the solution lie in imposing new taxes on the economy by default as the traditional economics would have it?

Or,

Can jobs lost to AI be compensated by new income generated by AI itself?

Answers to those questions could potentially save taxpayers trillions in additional taxes, and still guarantee the poor or the unemployed minimum income above the poverty threshold. So, first things first: what is algorithmic thinking?

The Algorithmic Thinking

An algorithm is basically a precisely defined process for solving a problem. Algorithmic processes can usually be automated easily. Algorithmic thinking, or computational thinking, refers to thinking about these problem-solving processes. It basically means defining clear steps that ultimately lead to the solution. The ultimate power of algo- thinking lies in its ability to automate solutions. By the way, algorithmic thinking and 'coding' are not the same thing, although they are often blended together when it comes to implementing or automating an algorithm.

Can Algorithmic Thinking Evolve A Solution?

Algorithmic thinking of the past decade has been swiftly changing the dynamics of our traditional centralized systems. Some of those changes are radical, and instrumented by an exponentially growing tech - distributed ledger technology (DLT) in general, and blockchain in particular.

No technology in history has ever evolved to such a degree of maturity as blockchain has within a short decade.

Quests that were virtually impossible just a few years ago are now becoming possible with blockchain. EMI (Earned Minimum Income) is the ultimate result of one such quest that started a couple of years ago, as a way to democratize the multi-trillion dollar algorithmic trading industry, by enabling any human being with an internet connected device to avail the profitability of algotrading without having to contribute any time or money. It is unconditional, requires no pre-qualification, except the will to participate.

EMI Fueled & Funded By ZeroLoss Ecosystem

The ZeroLoss Ecosystem that we disclosed previously, comprises of two architecturally different software modules:

• ZeroLoss Trading module is powered by the AlgoShare tech, which democratizes the multi-trillion dollar algorithmic trading industry for the benefit of the impoverished, by enabling seamless sharing of profitable algorithms for high-frequency trading (HFT) during the time they remain profitable,
• ZeroLoss Financing module enables risk-free ZeroLoss micro or nano loans by an equitably decentralized collective of incentivized peers, banks, financial institutions and NGOs.

Equitably decentralized collective of incentivized peers, means no central control of the collective, and participation of each one of the peers is incentivized by risk-free sharing of benefits proportionate to his / her stake in the collective.

The Empirical Evidence

In our experience of organizing gamified challenge in cryptocurrency settings over the last couple of years, ordinary non-traders could deploy best algorithms in cryptocurrency setting to generate as high as double-digit returns in a single day.

On a sustained long term basis scraping 1% daily profit from HFT is fairly achievable if the most optimal algorithmic strategy is deployed. AlgoShare picks up the most profitable algorithms and shares them in real time with peers for autonomous HFT until the time they remain profitable, and kills them when they cease to deliver profits.

The algorithmic scraping of profits from the $1.4K trillion algorithmic trading industry can generate enough income to counter the algorithmic obsolescence in advanced countries and poverty in others.

So let the algorithmic obsolescence be neutralized by algorithmic scraping of income. Let it be earned rather than paid by the taxpayers.

Indeed, jobs lost to AI can be compensated by new income generated by AI itself!

There's an additional advantage of EMI over UBI. It is a revenue generating cash cow rather than a tax liability that gives a multi-trillion boost to the global economy.

Defining EMI

In layman's terms EMI can be defined as:

Earned Minimum Income (EMI) is a blockchain-based technology solution that creates a ZeroLoss ecosystem that autonomously and seamlessly scrapes tiny profits from the quadrillion dollar global algorithmic trading activities using ever-profiting algorithms shared by peers, and spreads such profits across the most impoverished so they earn a minimum income that's above the poverty threshold without having to invest any resources whether financial or vocational.

The Scalability Of EMI

The existing annual algorithmic trading volume exceeds $1,400 trillion globally. It is already more than adequate to generate EMI for the 800 million poor of the world if only 0.1% of that volume is scraped. Nevertheless, with the advent of blockchain and tokenization, more and more illiquid assets can be tokenized for liquidity. A liquid asset is tradable on exchanges, which means widespread tokenization of assets will consequently further increase the assets available for algorithmic trading.

Human Dignity

Living on food stamps, social security or charity might be a norm for most, but I am sure there are weirdos, if you may, who would … Well, I can surely relate to them, as I had been one, who refused to live on social security when a sudden turn of events in my life made me fall from the grace of abundance to the appall of scarcity. At least to that minority EMI delivers the aid with grace.

Time To Civilize Ourselves

In 1967 Martin Luther King, Jr, said:

"the time has come for us to civilize ourselves by the total, direct and immediate abolition of poverty"

In 2019 poverty is still not abolished. Sustainability is still a far cry.

Although, over half a century too late, the time to civilize ourselves is indeed here. New algorithms can deliver passive unconditional income streams or EMIs without any additional tax, aid, philanthropy, and yet effect the same level of equality as UBI is perceived to impact.

This article was first published in Medium

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