I was driving today and used speech-to-text to get a written-out prediction into my Notes app that I can come back to in 5–10 years.

Put it through ChatGPT afterwards to tidy it up (lol), but the actual ideas are mine.

Obviously this is speculation and I'm not claiming this is new knowledge at all. I just want to put my prediction out there and hear what people think, especially if you disagree with parts of it.

6th October 2026

I think AI is going to advance at a rate that none of us can really comprehend.

Even now, AI is improving incredibly quickly, and robotics is starting to catch up with it. You've got things like NVIDIA's Isaac platform, humanoid robots, autonomous machines etc. and I honestly think we're only seeing the beginning.

I think AI is going to start taking over huge amounts of jobs.

Basically, anything that can be automated eventually will be automated.

At some point, I think machines will be capable of doing a massive amount of the work humans currently do.

And that's where I think the current economic system starts having a massive problem.

The whole system is based around:

People work → earn money → spend money.

But if AI and robots are doing most of the jobs, millions of people aren't going to be able to earn money in the traditional way.

So what happens then?

I think the current money system eventually has to change.

THE NEW MONEY SYSTEM

This is where cryptocurrency, stablecoins and digital currencies come into it.

One thing I've been looking into is Microsoft's patent WO2020060606, which describes a cryptocurrency system using body activity data.

The patent describes things such as brain waves, pulse rate, body heat and other body activity potentially being detected and used as part of a cryptocurrency reward system.

That is really interesting when you think about where AI and technology are heading.

Because if we're moving towards a world where machines are doing most of the work, what happens when human labour isn't what gives people their economic value anymore?

Instead of:

Work → Get paid → Spend money

I could see it becoming something more like:

Behaviour/activity → AI measures it → Digital reward → Spendable currency

You could potentially have technology measuring what you're doing, how productive you are, what tasks you're completing, your physical activity, biological information, brain activity etc. and then somehow turning that into a digital reward.

I think governments are eventually going to have to find a way of giving people money when traditional employment isn't available to everyone.

And something like the technology described in 060606 could potentially fit into that.

THE BANKING SYSTEM

I also think there could eventually be a major event that allows the existing financial system to be replaced.

One possibility I can see is some kind of huge cyberattack or AI-related event affecting the banking system.

Imagine an AI system supposedly "goes rogue", financial infrastructure gets compromised, people lose access to their bank accounts and we're told that the existing banking system is no longer safe.

At that point, governments could introduce a completely new financial system.

People could be told that the old system isn't compatible with the technological world anymore and everyone needs to move onto a new form of digital money.

That could be the point where cryptocurrency or stablecoins become the new standard.

And then that could eventually link back to the idea of cryptocurrency being awarded based on human activity, behaviour, compliance and measurable biological information.

THE NEW WORLD ORDER

This is where I think the whole thing gets really interesting.

Once this system is established, I think we could see what I would call a new world order.

Everything becomes increasingly digital.

AI controls huge amounts of infrastructure.

Robots do most of the physical labour.

Algorithms control financial systems.

Digital identity becomes increasingly important.

And mass surveillance becomes a normal part of everyday life.

This is where I keep thinking back to that Microsoft patent.

If technology eventually becomes capable of constantly monitoring things like brain activity, pulse, body temperature and other biological signals, then the same technology that could potentially be used to reward people with cryptocurrency could also be used to monitor people.

Imagine a future where your phone, watch, wearable devices or whatever technology comes next is constantly collecting information about you.

Where you are.

What you're buying.

What you're doing.

What you're searching for.

Who you're communicating with.

Your heart rate.

Your physical activity.

Your brain activity.

How you're reacting to certain situations.

And then AI is constantly analysing all of it.

You could basically end up with a digital profile of yourself that's being updated constantly.

And this is where I think money could become connected to surveillance.

If digital currency is eventually awarded based on measurable activity, then your behaviour could literally have a financial value.

Your brain waves, physical activity, productivity, actions and biological information could potentially all contribute to what you receive.

Basically:

Your body + your behaviour + your activity

→ AI measures it

→ Digital profile

→ Financial reward

And if machines are doing most of the actual work, you might not even need a traditional job anymore.

You could just receive some kind of digital income based on whatever criteria the system decides.

But then the massive question is:

Who controls that system?

Because if the same infrastructure controls your identity, your money and your data, whoever controls that infrastructure has an enormous amount of power.

You could potentially be financially rewarded for behaving in certain ways, following certain rules, being productive, participating in certain things or complying with whatever the system considers acceptable.

And that's where mass surveillance becomes much more serious.

It wouldn't just be about governments being able to watch you.

It could potentially become a system where your behaviour is constantly being measured and your access to money is influenced by it.

That's the part that interests me the most.

AI and robots could actually give humans more freedom than we've ever had because we wouldn't have to spend our lives working.

But the exact same technology could also create the biggest surveillance and control system humanity has ever seen.

AI does the work.

Robots run the physical world.

Digital identity identifies everyone.

Digital currency controls the flow of money.

Biometric and biological data monitors people.

AI analyses behaviour.

Financial rewards incentivise people to behave in certain ways.

The questions then become:

Who controls the AI?

Who controls the data?

And who decides what behaviour gets rewarded?

POPULATION

Another part of my prediction is population.

I've thought quite a lot about the fact that extremely wealthy and powerful people have been talking for years about population growth, resources, sustainability and the number of humans on the planet.

There have been plenty of discussions from influential people and organisations about the environmental and resource problems associated with having a constantly growing population.

When you combine that with where AI and robotics are going, I think it raises a pretty interesting question.

If robots eventually do most of the work, then humans aren't going to be needed in the same numbers for the economy.

Think about it.

If robots are manufacturing things, AI is running businesses, automated farms are producing food, autonomous vehicles are moving things around and machines are doing most physical labour, then the economic need for billions of human workers completely changes.

Today, having lots of people is economically useful because people work, pay taxes and consume things.

But what happens when machines can do most of that?

That's why I think population reduction could potentially become part of the bigger picture.

ANOTHER GLOBAL EVENT

I also think there could eventually be another major global event similar to COVID.

I believe COVID showed how quickly governments could introduce lockdowns, restrictions, vaccines, emergency measures and huge changes to normal life when people were presented with a serious enough threat.

I think another major event could happen in the future that allows governments to introduce even more control.

It could be another pandemic or something completely different.

The population could be told that extreme measures are necessary because of the threat.

And because AI and automation mean fewer people are needed for the economy, I think a future global event could potentially result in a massive reduction in population.

I think something like that could fundamentally change society.

IMMIGRATION IN THE UK

I've also been thinking about the mass immigration we're seeing in the UK.

I think part of it could be creating division and distraction.

Everyone gets caught up arguing about immigration, race, politics and different groups of people while much bigger technological and economic changes are happening in the background.

But I also think there could be another reason.

If we're moving towards a world where AI and robots eventually take over most jobs, we're still in the transition period right now.

There are still loads of jobs that need humans, especially jobs that a lot of people don't want to do for low wages.

So I think immigration could partly be filling those jobs during this transition.

People come into the country and do the jobs that are still needed until eventually those jobs can also be automated.

At the same time, all the arguments around immigration create massive division between ordinary people.

Everyone is fighting with each other while technology is potentially changing the entire economic system underneath us.

WHERE I THINK THIS ENDS UP

My overall prediction is that the next 5–10 years are going to be absolutely incredible.

AI and robotics are going to accelerate at a rate that most people aren't prepared for.

More and more jobs will disappear.

The traditional idea of working 40 hours a week to earn money will become less relevant.

The current financial system will come under increasing pressure.

Digital currencies will become much more important.

AI will become deeply integrated into governments, banking, infrastructure and everyday life.

Eventually I think we could end up with a completely different economic system where humans don't necessarily need jobs to survive.

Machines produce most of what society needs and people receive some form of digital currency.

But I think the important part is that this money could potentially come with conditions.

The system could measure what you do, how you behave, what you participate in, how productive you are, how you comply with rules and potentially even information from your own body and brain.

You could essentially be rewarded for behaving in the way the system wants you to behave.

And that's where I think the whole thing becomes either incredibly good or incredibly dangerous.

If machines do all the work and everyone gets enough money to live, humans could potentially become freer than ever before.

We could have more time, more resources and basically not have to spend our entire lives working.

But if the same system monitors everything we do, controls our money and decides what behaviour gets rewarded, it could create an unprecedented level of control over ordinary people.

AI and robots doing the work could be one of the best things that ever happened to humanity.

Or the technology could become the biggest control system humanity has ever created.

I think the next 5–10 years will start showing us which direction we're actually heading.

I'm writing this on 6th October 2026 so I can come back and read it in 2030, 2031, 2035 or even further into the future.

I want to see how much of this actually happens.

Maybe I'll be completely wrong.

Maybe I'll look back at this and think I was completely off.

Or maybe I'll look back and realise I saw the direction things were heading years before most people did.

TL;DR: AI and robotics will replace huge numbers of jobs, forcing a new digital economy where money could be linked to behaviour, identity and even biological data. I think this could bring increased mass surveillance and control, potentially accelerated by major financial or global crises.

Hi folks, I have a Q about AI and could not find a suitable sub to ask, so, you all get it.

I hear the President saying we need to beat China in the ai space. I do not know what that means, beat them to what? Is there a goal or end somewhere that I do not know about? any ideas?

Beginning January 1, 2027, California’s AB 1883 will prohibit employers from using workplace surveillance tools that use AI to recognize, infer, or predict employees’ emotional states or collect their neural data. The law includes a safety exception and specified federal exceptions. It does not prohibit every workplace camera or productivity measure.

Applying that boundary requires an account of what the system actually does. An employer should be able to explain its inputs, outputs, and operational use. Calling a product a fatigue or safety tool cannot replace that examination. Emotion scoring for performance management presents a different question from a genuine safety function.

Workers’ alternatives also belong in the governance discussion. In a separate competition dispute, New Jersey’s Attorney General alleges that restrictions affecting Amazon’s delivery-service partners suppress driver mobility and compensation. That allegation concerns the ability to leave for other work. It does not establish a violation of California’s new surveillance law.

In my article on Amazon, worker surveillance, and monopsony, I argue that oversight should examine both the information extracted from workers and their realistic alternatives. A privacy control offers limited practical protection if exercising it costs someone access to work.

A scenario I've been thinking about that seems different from the usual “one sufficiently powerful AI discovers X” framing.

Imagine several advanced AI systems:

• developed by different organizations
• trained on substantially different datasets
• built using somewhat different architectures
• operating without direct coordination

They're all analyzing different pieces of the physical world.

Climate data.

Satellite imagery.

Seismology.

Oceanographic data.

Communications.

Economic activity.

Individually, none of the models discovers anything extraordinary.

But gradually they begin correcting apparently unrelated anomalies in ways that point toward the same hidden variable.

They aren't communicating with each other and they don't initially understand what the variable represents.

They simply keep eliminating explanations that don't fit.

Eventually several genuinely independent systems converge on essentially the same conclusion.

That seems potentially more consequential than a single model making an extraordinary claim.

Humans can dismiss one model as hallucinating, overfitting, suffering from corrupted data, etc.

But what happens when five independently developed systems reach the same improbable conclusion?

It makes me wonder whether one important capability threshold isn't “AI discovers something humans haven't.”

It's:

Independent AIs can corroborate discoveries that no human institution is prepared to accept.

At that point, human control becomes partly epistemic rather than simply operational.

You can control what a model is allowed to do.

It's much harder to control what happens when multiple systems make the same correct inference.

Is there much alignment/control literature specifically addressing this kind of independent convergence?