The Post-Work Era: AI, Automation, and Human Flourishing or...

This episode explores the idea of the “Post-Wage Horizon,” a future in which artificial intelligence and robotics take over most productive work, freeing human beings from economic dependence on jobs. We examine how proposals like universal basic income and universal basic services could redistribute the wealth created by automation, and why material abundance alone is not enough. As work-based identity fades, societies may face a deep existential challenge: what gives life meaning when employment is no longer central? The discussion turns to the rise of a care-focused society, where art, community, caregiving, and the pursuit of wisdom become the foundations of human purpose. The episode argues that the real test of this future is not technological, but cultural and moral: whether we can redesign our social systems to support meaningful lives beyond wage labor.