A future without human labor: One user's hopes and fears for AI in 2050

A user explores whether a future that no longer needs human labor would be desirable, describing feelings ranging from excitement to fear and meaninglessness. Their hypothetical 2050 assumes AI far smarter than all humanity combined, a billion humanoid robots, and the ability to build essentially anything with sufficient computing power and energy. In the version they describe as “done poorly,” power could concentrate in roughly 10 tech firms, authoritarian governments could control digital information, and engineered viruses, nuclear war or self-replicating AI could threaten humanity.