Bill Gates And Elon Musk Are Worried For Automation — But This Robotics Company Founder Embraces It

The specter of automation has Bill Gates and Elon Musk worried.

Gates believes the government should tax robots as they tax human workers, and “even slow down the speed” of incorporating robots into the workforce.

“Certainly there will be taxes that relate to automation. Right now, the human worker who does, say, $50,000 worth of work in a factory, that income is taxed and you get income tax, social security tax, all those things. If a robot comes in to do the same thing, you’d think that we’d tax the robot at a similar level. — Bill Gates”

Musk predicts automation will lead to mass unemployment. The government would need to establish a universal income to maintain social and economic stability.

“…I think may be these things do play into each other a little bit, but what to do about mass unemployment. This is going to be a massive social challenge. And I think ultimately we will have to have some kind of universal basic income. I don’t think we’re going to have a choice. — Elon Musk”

Daniel Theobald disagrees.

Daniel Theobald, co-founder and Chief Innovation Officer of Vecna.

Theobald doesn’t claim to know what type of social programs would work the best, and is open to things like a universal minimum income. But he…