I am not an economist. Not even close. But I would like to relay a conversation. I have a good friend who is a certified Genius. Everytime you run a search online, you are using software that he patented. He's testified before congress. He's so smart that he makes me feel like a moron. LOL I would like to share a conversation he had with me.
It was his opinion that very shortly, robotics and AI were going to replace so many more jobs than those new ones they would create, the the US would be looking at something like a 30% unemployment rate. That cannot be allowed. You simply can't have that much of the public starving to death.
The solution, he said, was UBI. For it to work, American values have to change. We can no longer afford to have the view that someone who doesn't work is scum. We have to see that lives have worth and dignity for other reasons. UBI the way he explained it is as follows: Everyone automatically gets enough to pay for basic housing, food, and clothing. Those lucky enough to work, would be able to add to that. Taxes would be enormously high. But that is the only ethical way to deal with the impending collapse of the job market.
If you want me to defend that, I can't. I'll leave the discussion to more qualified people.