22 hours ago, BritManToo said:

I'm ok with what I get/have.

My savings alone exceed my probable life expectancy.

And I don't really give a poop what happens to anyone else.

And before you say it or post a thumbs down,

Maybe you could be the first person to explain to my why I should care about anyone else?

You must have confused me with somebody else , I very rarely use the thumbs down emoji and I certainly would never thumbs down a post like that, ( i even used the little heart emoji to show my agreement) As it happens I am pretty much in the same boat as you , living off what I saved after nearly 50 years of working,

I have a couple of years to go until I can claim my state pension, assuming there is any money left in the system by the time that happens, I don't care about anyone else either, I take care of "me and mine" to the best of my ability

4 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

AI reminds me a bit of social media, it's definitely a step backwards in the wrong direction for civilization.

That is an inaccurate comparison. AI is primarily a source of information and an advanced form of data collation. It functions as a powerful learning tool and can carry out meaningful tasks that improve productivity, support research, and assist with problem solving. From education and business to science and healthcare, it has clear and measurable utility. Like any technology, it can be misused, but that does not negate its practical value or the benefits it already provides.

Social media, by contrast, is largely designed to capture attention. It often amplifies superficial content, misinformation, and carefully curated images intended to attract clicks rather than inform. While it can connect people, it frequently prioritizes engagement over substance. Equating AI with social media overlooks the fundamental difference between a tool built to enhance capability and platforms optimized primarily for attention consumption and cognitive addiction.

AI will, if not checked, be the downfall of humanity.

Last 20 years have seen more problems than solutions. Sliding into Dystopia - think Trump, more wars, degrading environment.

5 hours ago, BritManToo said:

If the banks and government pension system fail it'll be TEOTWAWKI

And the whole world will likely be foraging for food.

That might be a good time to find a support group that cares about each other's well-being.

There were at least a couple of books out in the late 50s and 60s that had to do with what happens to a society that left even the simplest tasks to the "system," and then the "power" went out. Those who live in the city imagine what your life would be like if the power went off for a month. No ATMs, gas pumps, sewage pumps, AC, and god forbid, no internet☹️.

Utopia or Dystopia. Of no relevance anymore.

The "Messias" has arrived. He will rectify all of our problems. He has a cottage at "Mar Al Lago" I hear. 😉

When AI figures out how to use 'Modal Logic' and replaces its '1,0' siwtch with (say) '1,0.5,0' then we will see a very different impact comming.

19 hours ago, 123Stodg said:

That is an inaccurate comparison. AI is primarily a source of information and an advanced form of data collation. It functions as a powerful learning tool and can carry out meaningful tasks that improve productivity, support research, and assist with problem solving. From education and business to science and healthcare, it has clear and measurable utility. Like any technology, it can be misused, but that does not negate its practical value or the benefits it already provides.

Social media, by contrast, is largely designed to capture attention. It often amplifies superficial content, misinformation, and carefully curated images intended to attract clicks rather than inform. While it can connect people, it frequently prioritizes engagement over substance. Equating AI with social media overlooks the fundamental difference between a tool built to enhance capability and platforms optimized primarily for attention consumption and cognitive addiction.

You are giving AI far too much credit, and from what I've seen so far AI is spectacularly dumb.

5 minutes ago, spidermike007 said:

You are giving AI far too much credit, and from what I've seen so far AI is spectacularly dumb.

AI is neither smart nor dumb. It scans info based on questions. If you ask better questions you get better answers. A dumb person gets dumb responses, a smart person gets smart responses.

On 2/25/2026 at 2:28 PM, BritManToo said:

As long as I can still buy bacon and pork sausages, I'm happy enough!

It may be made from 'long pig', but it will taste the same. 👍

AI has a useful purpose in the future, in my opinion. That purpose should be finding solutions to the many problems society and our planet face everyday, like curing disease, eliminating polution, reliance on fossil fuels, etc, etc.

It should not be used to bolster corporate/government coffers at the sake of humanities purpose and usefulness.

I think people need a purpose to exist happily. I hate to think what the world would be like if 70%, or more, of the planets population had no true purpose, regardless if provided a stipen each month.

On 2/24/2026 at 7:38 AM, Kyoto Kyle said:

I think many people are missing a key issue when they imagine a future where AI takes care of everything for us and no one has to work. The concept of Universal Basic Income, or UBI, being provided by governments sounds great on the surface, but in reality people would likely receive only a minimal amount, just enough to get by rather than live comfortably. It is more like a worst case scenario than the great new world order that many people are imagining.

If artificial intelligence eliminates large numbers of jobs and leaves society facing mass unemployment, people are unlikely to be content and governments are also unlikely to simply step back and let the world spiral into chaos and civil unrest. Instead, they are more likely to prepare to expand their authority and further militarize in order to suppress uprisings from people stepping up against a new system of civil society built around a world with no jobs.

If much of the developed world ends up unemployed and dependent on UBI, that feels closer to dystopia than utopia. It resembles a machine driven system in which human labor and agency are no longer central. In that scenario, any serious resistance could be met not by human officers using the usual tear gas or rubber bullets of the past, but by drones, autonomous ground vehicles, and humanoid robots exerting lethal force.

Within a decade or so, protests or uprisings could look very different, with machines enforcing order in the streets. If people are sustained by UBI because they are no longer needed to run society and they attempt to push back against that reality, it means modern society has failed and the response to any public displays of discontentment may not be humane or negotiable.

I'm still waiting for flying cars to become a reality.

16 hours ago, swissie said:

Utopia or Dystopia. Of no relevance anymore.

The "Messias" has arrived. He will rectify all of our problems. He has a cottage at "Mar Al Lago" I hear. 😉

I think that's simply spelt Mess, the Mess has arrived.

On 2/25/2026 at 2:50 PM, Bday Prang said:

Do you honestly think UK expats will qualify for the UK version of this? , which like the state pension , will be considerably less than what nationals of other countries will get

Don't recall Brittman mentioning pensions or UBI.

Same as me.

Enuff for hungries will do, if need be.🙃🙃

With the present US fascist "government", headed straight toward dystopia.

4 hours ago, Yasobill said:

AI has a useful purpose in the future, in my opinion. That purpose should be finding solutions to the many problems society and our planet face everyday, like curing disease, eliminating polution, reliance on fossil fuels, etc, etc.

It should not be used to bolster corporate/government coffers at the sake of humanities purpose and usefulness.

I think people need a purpose to exist happily. I hate to think what the world would be like if 70%, or more, of the planets population had no true purpose, regardless if provided a stipen each month.

I thought this was interesting https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JvgaZ_myFE4 ...well, somewhat.

Answer to that question (title) is location dependent. 3rd world countries, still headed toward Utopia, or, like 'most' of TH, almost there. Need to wind back that pollution a bit, then it would be ... BLISS

5 hours ago, Lucky Bones said:

Don't recall Brittman mentioning pensions or UBI.

Same as me.

Enuff for hungries will do, if need be.🙃🙃

He didn't , I was just pondering out loud, whether if and when it gets rolled out , expats would be entitled to the same amount as uk residents.

A low value post and a reply has been removed:

• Low-Value Posts - Posts that add no written contribution are not allowed.

Many works of fiction from last century predicted a dystopian future with the planet controlled by large corporations.

I thought it an unlikely future when I read/viewed these works.

Now, such a future seems only a few years away.

On 2/25/2026 at 10:04 AM, Wingate said:

I'm betting on dystopia.

When I think about what AI might be able to do, I get lost in the math. I seem to remember 1 + 1 = 2. When people discuss AI, it equals infinity.

Think about it. Yes, AI can improve healthcare. AI might find ways to provide cheap energy. AI might streamline production and make goods and services more efficient and cheaper. Sounds good, but......

All economies need end users. We call them "consumers". Consumers need money to be able to purchase all of those wonderful goods and services. Unfortunately, AI is going to make those consumers, who are also income-receiving workers, redundant. They won't be working to earn the money needed to buy those goods and services.

Ah, but what about UBI? Give people money and they can buy. Sounds good, until one looks at the world's debt situation and sovereign governments' debt situation. The world has $346,000,000,000,000 of debt, which amounts to about $41,000 for every current human occupant of the planet. Where is this money going to come from to pay UBI? More debt? More printed money? It is not workable, besides the fact NOBODY has a current plan at a time when AI is chomping up the food chain destroying jobs.

AI isn't going to obviate workers all at once, nor even equally across all world societies. Think of how many people in the Philippines work call centers that you reach when calling about your credit card. Think of how many guys are busy writing code in Bangalore. Those two "careers" will be the first to go, so one might expect to see a little social unrest in areas so dependent on call centers and code writing.

We're all going to be the proverbial lobster in the pot, "It's getting warm in here, but at least I'm not boiling like poor Joe the Lobster over there."

Later, folks will come to realize education is pointless, save for learning for the sake of learning. No need to study engineering or medicine or much of anything, because AI will know more, know it faster, and be able to deliver solutions with minimal error. Universities will be useless. Anyone who wants a degree in Medieval Japanese history or the biology of flatworms can learn it online. No education is going to lead to gainful employment, so universities ability to charge $80K per year will be gone. It will be easier to sell a Betamax player than a sheepskin from MIT or Harvard.

I suspect the people most able to adapt to the brave new world will be people currently under the age of 35. I've seen such people who can be mesmerized and satisfied by 10 straight hours of banal TikTok videos, believing that is a life well lived. AI will find ways to pacify and mollify such easily entertained people.

Frankly, I think AI will eventually decide humans are just a nuisance and will exterminate the pests that we are. I might even opine that the real reason no alien civilization has visited us is not because of distance and speed limits, but because every advanced civilization eventually developed AI, and AI destroyed it.

Thank you. Your response is well written and through out. Your comments about how Ai will start with specific occupations and the "boiling a frog" are I think unfortunately true and can already be seen today. I also agree with your comments about those under 35 for whom watching TikTok or social media all day can be considered a meaningful life is also mostly true. I hope that the end depressing "final solution" is not inevitable. Although, it is amazing to me that with all the various stories and movies we have about the end of times - when computers (machines) take over, we still seem to be mostly embracing AI as a wonderful ideas and solution to our problems with little to no oversight.