The automation of work and the meaning of life

Let's assume, for argument's sake, that superintelligence is around the corner and it doesn't kill us? Let's say that what we see, rather, is the end of work. The end of the need for human involvement in scientific discovery (since the machines do it so much better than we do, and anyways, we couldn't understand what they're on about after a certain point, surely?). Let's say that our every need is met, instantly, and completely.

 

Then what?

 

Is that the end of human striving? The end of meaning? Where are we to find meaning when there is nothing left to explore, nothing left to discover?

I think that this worry betrays a staggering lack of imagination. 

 

There are at least two responses to this that we should take seriously (and these are just off the top of my head, so I imagine that there are far more available when we sit and really dig into the question).

 

First - this isn't new, or at least, some version of this isn't new.

Consider the Buddha before he left home - a prince who had every luxury, no material need unmet. And yet there was still something to accomplish - namely, he needed to address the question of his own existence (and through that, the question of all being, so to speak). This wasn't something that simple knowledge could address either - it's a strange mix of knowledge and subjective experience that has to be seen to be understood. This question is always with us, regardless of our environment - and in an environment of plenty, this question comes into even sharper relief than when we have to busy ourselves with attending to basic necessities.

 

Second - when there's no possibility of discovering first, there is still the pleasure of understanding and, through understanding, the perfection of the self. Yes, sure, it must be a really cool feeling to be the first to explore a new field, discover a new theorem, etc. But the majority of humanity has never done this, has never even considered the possibility of this. Most people are probably not even equipped to undertake such work, especially in the furthest reaches of mathematics and physics.

Still, there's work to do - and it has to do with the self. We can imagine new ways for us to live, lean into our particularities, our peculiarities. Our subjectivity is still wide open, regardless of how far AI pushes into areas of external exploration.

 

When all the work is done, there is so much more work left to do. And, arguably, what's left is the most important work there is.