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Been pondering this during my cycling this morning after reading this article earlier. [post=http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/feb/13/artificial-intelligence-ai-unemployment-jobs-moshe-vardi]http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/feb/13/artificial-intelligence-ai-unemployment-jobs-moshe-vardi[/post] AI doesn't have to be of the Hollywood robot variety and is more suited to those keyboard oriented tasks that the vast majority of jobs have morphed into in the last 50 years. Many middle class jobs will be readily eliminated, AI never tires and is always vigilant, never takes a comfort break, doesn't need a holiday or require a pension and sick-pay. Business analysts - not required, Project managers - not required, Accountants - not required, Administrators -not required, H.R. Personel virtually eliminated, same for Driving occupations the list goes on. Large Corporations will automate their dealings with other large corporations, the most successful ones will be the ones that make the quickest decisions, trading of stock will be totally automated, the loosers will be assimilated into ever larger corporations until there are only a handful. This handful will disguise the fact by retaining the brands and trading names of the absorbed. Forecasting a base unemployment level of 50% in 30 years time where does this leave unproductive humans and their unfunded housing requirements. The answer is renting. The housing stock will then be prefabricated to a number of designs according to rental cost and designed with a maintenance free life of around 25 years at which point it will simply be replaced as a complete unit with old one recycled. Most of the materials of construction and insulation etc will also be recycled and the plant constructing these homes will be almost entirely utomated along the lines of Teslas latest car plant in the US. Day to day building trades will be decimated, bricks will be the construction material of the elite as they will imply status, private landlords will no longer exist as they will have been financially wiped out. People with low or no income will have little choice about what they live in but may have more choice as to where. The pension system will become unworkable as the number of stocks and investment opportunites diminshes and governments come on the hook to fund the under employed. Ultimately capitalism will fail as it ceases to be relevant to 90% of the population.

Whether you agree with him or not, I think this is worth reading: http://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/jul/17/postcapitalism-end-of-capitalism-begun#comment-55905200 I need to read it properly to digest it, but it expresses an awful lot of what I've been thinking. I'm sure many here will find plenty to disagree with.