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One popular idea that is often discussed when talking about the future of jobs and labor in an increasingly automated world, is the idea of taxing robots that potentially replace human workers. The idea of taxing robots is well-meaning and not inherently wrong, but this approach is an excuse to not address the real problems we have when looking at labor and capital tax structures in a world with AI.
In the most basic sense, taxes on goods are usually applied to discourage the use of said goods (think sugar tax and plastic bag tax). Taxation of robots would likely mean slower robot adoption which has the potential to have a negative impact on economic growth and lower consumer benefits. (This article digs deep into the question around the robot tax.)
It is unlikely that we will see any large-scale job loss due to robots and automation in the workplace in the near future. Many robots that are being introduced into the workplace are human-augmenting and are doing tasks that are physically challenging or even dangerous for humans.
Another question that we would need to address in this discussion is: How do we define what a robot is? Is a robot a physical object doing repetitive, routine work, or does this also include software automation, like robotic process automation (RPA)?
Bill Gates, a leading proponent of a tax on robots, should be more focused on getting the company he founded to pay taxes and stop shifting its US profits off-shore. Taxing the robots seems to be more of a distraction.
For every good problem AI can be applied to, there are people using AI for bad. MIT Tech Review did a great in-depth story on the use of deepfakes to swap women into porn videos. Even with proper oversight and crackdown, we will likely continue to see these nefarious AI applications.
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