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As AI companies warn of mass automation and the end of work as we know it, ChatGPT maker OpenAI has published a sweeping policy paper<\/a> outlining its vision of who should call the shots once \u201csuperintelligent AI\u201d goes online.<\/p>\n Beneath the paper\u2019s flowery rhetoric is something familiar: a powerful corporation arguing that the best way to provide for the poorest people in the world is to let the richest do whatever they want<\/a>.<\/p>\n The paper starts off by warning \u2014 ironically<\/a> \u2014 that superintelligent AI could concentrate wealth among a small number of companies. Its solution to this problem, at a time when nearly 48 million Americans<\/a> already struggle with hunger, is a \u201cpublic wealth fund,\u201d which would be a program that provides \u201cevery citizen\u201d with a \u201cstake in AI-driven economic growth.\u201d<\/p>\n Instead of expanding tested programs like a universal basic income<\/a> or unemployment insurance<\/a>, in other words, OpenAI\u2019s proposal is to hitch the public\u2019s wellbeing to the boom-and-bust cycles of the tech industry.<\/p>\n \u201cPolicymakers and AI companies should work together to determine how to best seed the fund, which could invest in diversified, long-term assets that capture growth in both AI companies and the broader set of firms adopting and deploying AI,\u201d the paper suggests. \u201cReturns from the fund could be distributed directly to citizens, allowing more people to participate directly in the upside of AI-driven growth, regardless of their starting wealth or access to capital.\u201d<\/p>\n Of course, in a market economy constant growth isn\u2019t guaranteed, even if we do somehow achieve superintelligence. What happens if the tech companies suddenly post a bad quarter? What if our incredible AI system decides to take over Wall Street?<\/p>\n What workers need isn\u2019t a wealth fund indexed to tech industry profits. They need universal healthcare, access to fresh food, and housing that isn\u2019t tied to the ebbs and flows of the stock market. Unlike AI superintelligence, this isn\u2019t a utopian fantasy. It\u2019s the baseline that most wealthy democracies already provide<\/a> \u2014 no AI required.<\/p>\n