> People will still need and want tangible things.
And that matters to who, and why, exactly?
Once enough of the economy is automated, there's hardly a reason for it to keep humans in the loop. It can just run in a circle, serving itself. Humans, meanwhile, will just have to barter for scraps amongst themselves.
So much of the presumed negative consequences of improving AI are actually the negative consequences of the power structures they're going to exist in I think.
If we truly live in a world where those in power seek to eliminate all other (non-powerful) humans from the equation, then maybe that's our real problem. For the record, I don't actually believe this is the case. Some people might work toward this goal but I doubt that most powerful people would voluntarily want to give up their influence over the masses. Which is what they'd do if they leave them to fend for themselves while the bots run their businesses. At some point, when you have enough money already, you don't actually seek more money, you seek more influence, and money is just the vehicle. ETA: btw, if a truly autonomous money-making machine is invented, that's just going to cause inflation, making it all worthless.
