Bernie Sanders Says AI Boom Must Serve Working Families, Not Billionaires: Calls For Shorter Work Week, Higher Quality Of Life

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) has once again urged Americans to demand a shorter work week, now that AI technologies are boosting productivity across sectors.  

What Happened: In a recent X post, Sanders wrote: "With the explosion of AI, new technology and increased worker productivity, we should demand a shorter work week, increased life expectancy and a decent standard of living for all. The benefits of AI must go to working families, not just high-tech CEOs."

This post came after another post he made earlier this month, referring to Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei's prediction that AI is likely to eradicate half of all entry-level white-collar jobs, and push unemployment to 10-20% within the coming one to five years.

"The CEO of Anthropic (a powerful AI company) predicts that AI could wipe out HALF of entry-level white collar jobs in the next 5 years. We must demand that increased worker productivity from AI benefits working people, not just wealthy stockholders on Wall St. AI IS A BIG DEAL," Sanders wrote.

See Also: OpenAI Wins $200 Million US Defense Contract For AI Warfare Capabilities As The Company Looks To Raise $40 Billion

Why It Matters: Sanders has repeatedly cautioned against the concentration of AI's benefits in the hands of the elite few. In 2023, he emphasised that technology like AI should be useful to everyone: "It is imperative that we make sure that new technology like artificial intelligence works for us, and not just a few billionaires who already control everything else about our economy,” he wrote on X.

In April this year, Sanders referred to Elon Musk’s dismissal of federal workers under the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency, and advised the public to consider the AI threat seriously.

“If Musk can do this to federal employees, what do you think he’s going to be doing when artificial intelligence and robotics come for your job?” he asked. “The job you have today ain’t going to be here in 10 or 15 years.”

In his latest post, he highlighted the possibility of shorter work weeks aided by AI, an idea that has been promoted by the likes of Microsoft CEO Bill Gates and Zoom CEO Eric Yuan.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk predicted earlier this year that AI would eventually eliminate the need for humans to work at all: "In a benign scenario, probably none of us will have a job,” Musk said. “There will be universal high income. I’d say there’s about an 80% chance that AI advances will lead to a situation where humans will not need to work and will have all they need.”

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