Araz Gholami

I was sitting in a coffee shop yesterday, watching the barista carefully craft my latte. Her movements were precise, almost artistic. Then it hit me: how long until a robot does this job?

Not because it should. But because it could.

And then I couldn’t stop thinking about it.

We’re charging full-speed into a future where AI and robots can do most jobs better than humans. Not in some distant sci-fi future. We’re talking years, not decades.

Cool, right?

Well… wait a minute.

The Uncomfortable Math

Let’s do some quick napkin math:

There are roughly 3.5 billion people in the global workforce. Studies suggest automation could displace up to 50% of current jobs by 2035.

That’s potentially 1.75 billion unemployed people.

1.75 billion people wondering how to feed their families.

Holy shit.

The Standard Answer (And Why It’s Wrong)

“Don’t worry!” say the optimists. “We’ve been here before. When cars replaced horses, we didn’t end up with unemployed horses—we got car mechanics and highway engineers!”

But this time is different.

Previous technological revolutions created new jobs that humans could do. This revolution is creating systems that can learn any new job faster than humans can.

It’s not just factory workers and truck drivers. It’s lawyers, doctors, programmers, and yes: baristas.

So What Actually Happens?

I’ve been thinking about this a lot. Here are the scenarios I see:

Scenario 1: Universal Basic Income (UBI)

Governments could tax the productivity gains from automation and redistribute it as basic income.

Sounds nice in theory. But…

Have you met governments? Their track record of handling massive economic transitions isn’t great.

Plus, the companies benefiting from automation are really good at avoiding taxes. Really, really good.

Scenario 2: The Ownership Economy

What if instead of trying to tax and redistribute after the fact, we made everyone a shareholder in the automated future?

Imagine if every citizen got shares in the AI and robotics companies replacing human workers.

As traditional jobs disappear, dividend payments become the new paychecks.

I like this idea. But it would require a complete redesign of our economic system. Not impossible, but… challenging.

Scenario 3: The Split

This is the dark one.

Society splits into two groups:

1. Those who own and control the automated systems
2. Everyone else

History has some ugly examples of what happens in societies with that kind of inequality.

What Are The Big Players Thinking?

I’ve been reading interviews, public statements, and annual reports from major tech companies and government agencies. Here’s what I found:

Tech leaders like Sam Altman talk about “abundance” and how AI will create unprecedented wealth. Elon Musk pushes for UBI, saying it will become “necessary.” Mark Zuckerberg speaks about “new opportunities” in the metaverse.

Lots of optimistic words. Not many concrete plans.

Government responses? The World Economic Forum suggests “upskilling” and “lifelong learning.” The EU is drafting AI regulations. The US Department of Labor publishes reports about “workforce transformation.”

But dig deeper, and you’ll find mostly vague promises and preliminary studies.

It’s like watching someone build a rocket ship without thinking about how to land it. Sure, the takeoff might be spectacular, but what about the landing?

Even scarier: most small and medium businesses—which employ most of the world’s workers—aren’t even part of these discussions.

What Can We Do?

Here’s what I think:

1. We need to start experimenting with new economic models NOW, not when the crisis hits.
2. The solution probably isn’t choosing between capitalism and socialism, but inventing something new that better fits an automated world.
3. Every major tech company and government should be required to publish detailed plans for handling mass unemployment.
4. We need to rethink education completely. Not just “learning to code” , but learning to be human in a world where machines do most of the work.

The Truth Is…

Nobody knows exactly how this plays out.

But we can’t afford to just wait and see.

The coffee shop I mentioned earlier? They’re testing a robot barista next month.

It’s already starting.

The question isn’t whether this future is coming.

The question is: are we ready?

(Spoiler alert: we’re not.)

But we better figure it out fast.

Because that barista? She has bills to pay and kids to feed. Just like billions of others who will be facing the same situation soon.

And “learn to code” isn’t going to cut it when the robots can code better than us too.

What do you think? How would you handle a future where traditional employment becomes rare? Let me know in the comments below.