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TL;DR
Thorsten Meyer’s new book, ‘After the Paycheck,’ offers an honest assessment of AI’s influence on jobs and wealth. It emphasizes ownership as the key factor and provides a nuanced view of responses to automation.
Author Thorsten Meyer has released his new book, After the Paycheck, which critically examines how artificial intelligence is transforming the economy, particularly in terms of employment and ownership. The book challenges prevalent narratives of either catastrophic job losses or limitless abundance, instead offering a grounded analysis based on data and real-world trends.
The book, available in serialized chapters and as a complete e-book, argues that the core issue with AI and automation is not just the displacement of jobs but the concentration of ownership over the models, data, and computing infrastructure. Meyer highlights that as AI improves, the value it creates primarily benefits those who own the technology, not the workers.
He describes how AI reaches jobs gradually by peeling off tasks, making work more precarious even before outright replacement occurs. Meyer categorizes responses into three main strategies: income support (such as basic income), ownership models (like employee equity or sovereign wealth funds), and reskilling. He emphasizes that ownership structures are the most promising but also the riskiest, citing examples like Norway’s national wealth fund versus looted sovereign funds.
The book also discusses the importance of honest analysis, warning against misleading headlines that either exaggerate or underestimate AI’s impact, and advocates for a balanced approach that combines floors, stakes, and bridges to address economic challenges.