Who doesn’t want a soft life? Don’t we all yearn for a life of ease and comfort? A life without pain or strife? A life of abundance and affluence? Don’t we all want a life of leisure and pleasure? But a life without toil and sacrifice? Don’t we all want a cat’s life? Think of it for a moment. A cat is fed, cuddled, and is always petted whenever she meows for attention. She doesn’t have a health plan and doesn’t pay rent, but she gets to live like a queen. Her only reason for existence is to eat, poop, and reproduce. Someone would aptly describe a cat’s life in the words of Rick Ross, “this is the life”. The question now is, can we be cats and AI-powered robots be to us what we are to cats?

A cat lives a life that has forced humans to fantasize about utopia such as heaven and paradise. That the only time humans will ever come close to enjoying a true socialist lifestyle is after they are long dead. But these life-after-death fantasies – the fantasies of truly enjoying a soft life without having to work for it as promised under socialism are now on the horizon, thanks to the birth of AI-powered robots.

AI and AI-powered robots have already started to replace humans in the labor market, scaring humans in the process. Humans are getting scared because they have lived in a world where work defines their sole purpose for existence. Without work, some of their religious texts say, they are not allowed to eat. So it is well within their rights to be scared when AI and AI-powered robots take over their sources of livelihood.

But we need to think a little beyond the transition period. We all need to think of a time when AI and AI-powered robots have been fully integrated into every sphere of the labor market. When every tiny little thing that humans do right now and potentially in the future as a source of income is being done by AI and robots.

How should we ensure that AI-powered robots usher in the soft life we all want to bask in? By ensuring that we abandon capitalism and embrace socialism. We currently do not fully embrace socialism because it has numerous challenges. One of the main challenges that socialism faces is the coordination problem: how to efficiently and fairly allocate resources and distribute goods and services among millions of people with diverse needs and preferences. Under capitalism, this problem is solved by the price mechanism, which signals the supply and demand of goods and services in the market. However, the price mechanism also creates inequality, exploitation, and environmental degradation, as some people benefit more than others from the market system.

AI and robotics can offer a solution to the coordination problem under socialism. With advanced AI-powered robots, it is possible to create a highly automated and decentralized system of production and distribution that can meet the basic needs of everyone without relying on market forces or central planning. AI can collect and process large amounts of data to optimize resource allocation and distribution according to social and environmental criteria. Robotics can perform most of the physical labor required to produce goods and services, reducing the need for human workers. This can create a post-scarcity society, where everyone has access to abundant and free goods and services.

Imagine AI planning our agriculture. From land cultivation for food production to harvesting to distribution. Many agree that the food crisis the world is currently facing is not due to lack of food, but rather a matter of food distribution problem. With AI and AI-powered robots taking over the management of agricultural and industrial activities through the proper use of optimization algorithms, food scarcity will no longer be an issue that worries anyone. AI will be able to manage food production, distribution, and consumption so that everyone receives just as much food as they need. AI will be able to ensure both the optimal supply of food and minimal food leftovers.

In those days, AI-powered robots will embrace the role of vigilant guardians, ensuring human physical and mental well-being is forever guaranteed. Equipped with advanced medical knowledge and technology, these benevolent AI caretakers will monitor health, offer personalized treatments, and provide round-the-clock support. Freed from the anxieties of illness and the burden of self-care, humans will finally revel in a life filled with vitality and peace of mind.

Another challenge that socialism faces is the motivation problem: how to encourage people to work and contribute to society without relying on monetary rewards or punishments. Under capitalism, people are motivated by wages, profits, and competition to work and innovate. However, this also creates alienation, stress, and dissatisfaction, as people are forced to work in jobs they do not enjoy or find meaningful, and they are constantly pressured to increase their productivity and consumption.

AI-powered robots can offer a solution to the motivation problem under socialism. With AI and robotics taking over most of the jobs, people will have more free time and autonomy to pursue their own interests and passions. People will be motivated by intrinsic factors such as curiosity, creativity, learning, socializing, and self-actualization. People will also have more opportunities to participate in democratic decision-making processes that affect their lives and communities. This can create a post-work society, where people find meaning and fulfillment in their leisure activities and social relations

Freed from the shackles of labor, humans will have infinite opportunities to pursue their true purposes. Humans, according to me, are not meant to work (forget what the Bible says). Humans are meant to enjoy a soft life – a life without the hardship of work or ever having to worry about income. Humans are meant to be imaginative. They are meant to be creative little beings. Beings that indulge in the pursuit of wonder. Humans are meant to travel the world, explore the universe, and discover new horizons.

Most humans do not have the opportunity to actualize their potential – for they spend most of their days worrying about where their next meal will come from, how they will pay for their next month’s rent, and whether they’ll be able to provide their offspring with the best lives possible. Take these worries out of the picture, and the only option left for humans will be to be the laziest they can ever be – or be the best their genetic and environmental makeup allows them to be.

Read: An AI Person? Here is why AI may never have emotions, desires, and personality