The capability of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is exploding. Machines are becoming smarter, faster, and better than humans at a rapidly growing number of tasks.  The rapidity at which this new industrial revolution is occurring across the entirety of human society is resulting in skewed wealth accumulation and lasting consequences to national security and democracy.

     The political upheaval and voter revolt we are witnessing, including a divided U.S. electorate, the intense debate on illegal immigration, and the French Yellow Vest Protest are rooted in economic issues.   The economic upheaval, including a volatile stock market, stagnant wages, and stubborn unemployment, is caused by the combination of many factors (and different factors in different parts of the world), but the dominant factor everywhere is automation by application of artificial intelligence technology.

     But wait, you say. Prior to the pandemic, the U.S. economy was roaring; unemployment was very low and wages were rising.  How does that fit the hypothesis?  In any revolution, progress is uneven; thus in this revolution there will also be ups and downs.  However, the overall trend is toward low (or negative) wage growth and higher unemployment in the U.S. and around the world as this industrial revolution continues.
 
     The pandemic is amplifying and accelerating these trends.  The economic proposition is greatly magnified: AI's do not have to be paid, they do not receive benefits, they do not get sick, they do not require expensive office space, and they can work 24/7.  If a business has a choice of spending money to reconfigure office space to operate during the pandemic, or investing in AI to automate those jobs and eliminating the office space, automation wins.

     But wait, the reader may be thinking again. There have been other industrial revolutions in the past.  Society eventually adjusts, people acquire new skillsets and find new jobs (some of which did not exist prior to the revolution), and wages and productivity eventually trend upward.  This is true, and I agree the same will eventually happen at the conclusion of this revolution.  However, prior industrial revolutions took a comparatively long time to occur (at least a generation in most cases), generally affected only certain aspects of society at any one time, and occurred in different areas of the world at different rates.  These three things gave people the opportunity to adjust.

     The AI revolution is different. It is changing all aspects of society all across the planet in a very short amount of time.  The speed and wide reach of this revolution, if left unmanaged, will result in ruined lives, ruined economies, and ruined countries until humanity has enough time to adjust.

     In addition, unlike past industrial revolutions, this technology brings with it the possibility of abuse; humanity is not mature enough as a species to prevent the abuse of AI (the next section on warfare and the subsequent section on class structure clearly demonstrate this), and this fact will ensure a harrowing ride through this revolution.  Read on, and be prepared to freak out!


 
     The US Air Force's Valkyrie has a top speed of 652 mph, a range of 2449 miles, can carry eight missiles, and is a small, highly maneuverable, stealthy autonomous drone (Maxey, 2019).  The Valkyrie is designed to identify


and overwhelm enemy air defenses, and to escort and protect F-22 and F-35 fighters (Maxey, 2019).  The Valkyrie is very low cost; the Air Force can buy dozens of Valkyries for the cost of a single F-35 (Gregg, 2019).  Because of its small size and the application of stealth technology, the Valkyrie is nearly impossible for enemy radars to see and equally impossible for those radars to get a weapons lock on it.   The Valkyrie can take off and land on its own, seek and identify targets on its own, but it requires human approval to launch its missiles (Liptak, 2019).

     The US Navy's Sea Hunter is an autonomous, corvette-sized surface drone designed to scout ahead of manned ships, mine coastlines, and overwhelm and destroy coastal missile defenses (Cole, 2018).  It too is low cost and stealthy.  The Sea Hunter recently sailed from the West Coast to Hawaii on its own (Mizokami, "The U. S. Navy Wants to Build a 'Ghost Fleet'," 2019).

     The US Navy's Orca is an autonomous submarine drone that is exceptionally dangerous.  Only 51 feet long, it can dive to 11,000 feet and has a range of 6500 nautical miles.  Orca can carry anti-sub and anti-ship torpedoes as well as mines.  This small stealthy drone can stay at sea for months at a time hunting enemy ships and subs (Mizokami, "The Navy Just Ordered the 'Orca'," 2019). Like the fictional Terminator, it will not sleep and will not stop until the enemy is dead.

     The US Army's Next Generation Combat Vehicle (NGCV) program will build AI into all new vehicles.  These vehicles will replace manned tanks, howitzers, mortars and more on the battlefield.  NGCV's are low-cost autonomous drones made to scout ahead of manned vehicles, carry supplies, identify targets, and fire weapons (Osborn, 2018).

     Boston Dynamics' Atlas, illustrated here ("Atlas"), is a humanoid robot


capable of walking, running, opening doors, and doing pushups and backflips (Boston Dynamics, n.d.).  Atlas moves in very human ways and will one day appear on the battlefield.  Google recently sold Boston Dynamics to Softbank, a Japanese company.

     The United States is far ahead of the rest of the world in the application of AI to warfare, though it will not always be so.  The Chinese and Russians are determined to catch up and even surpass us.  For now though, our enemies are faced with the very real prospect that the US could fight a conventional war without losing a single human soldier.


     The majority of jobs currently being created in the U.S. economy are low-wage jobs.  There are fewer high-wage jobs being created, and most of those require a very high level of education.  Automation is keeping wages from rising at expected rates (Porter, 2019).  In 2018 investors poured 9.3 billion dollars into AI startups, eight times more funding than just five years ago (CB Insights, 2019).  Stock market volatility will increase as the labor structure changes, and as companies try to adjust to rapidly changing consumer income and spending habits.

     The following graph shows that most jobs being created are low-wage jobs (Porter, 2019).  Even as more and more workers are being pushed into these jobs, all of them will be replaced by AI machines by 2025.  This phenomenon has far-reaching implications for wealth accumulation and distribution in the



U.S. and is happening much faster here than other parts of the world.
Various national economies will accept revolutionary economic change at different rates.  India is skipping directly to a digital economy; China is building a centrally-controlled digital economy (which has profound implications, as we shall see later); Europe is transforming, but at a slower rate; and Russia is floundering because its economy is so weak it does not have the resources to advance.

Smart Offices

     The use of AI assistants will be common in the office within the next two years.  Both Google and Amazon are funding big marketing pushes to make this happen, and are adding office-friendly features.  For example, Amazon's Alexa has learned to do more than one task in the same request.  Google's Assistant can track and translate in real time a conversation between two people speaking two different languages.  The Assistant currently understands twenty-seven languages (HP Tech@Work, 2019).  AI Assistants will soon control all devices in the office, from the thermostat to lighting to computer logins.

Smart Stores and Restaurants

 
     "Marty," who looks a little as though he might be Gumby's gray, armless cousin, is an autonomous robot currently being deployed in Giant/Martin's grocery stores and Stop & Shop stores.  These robots will patrol the stores identifying and alerting customers and staff to safety hazards such as spills (Retail Business Services, 2019).

     McDonald's has acquired Dynamic Yield, an Israeli company that uses machine learning to automate and personalize in-store ordering and online marketing.  If you have the McDonald's app on your phone, Dynamic Yield will know when you are approaching a drive-through and will personalize the drive-through digital menu with the items you like to order at that time of day.  It may also place additional items on the menu it thinks you might like (Barrett, 2019).

Smart Homes

     Voice Assistants are now common in the home, and can control everything from the thermostat to lights to the security system.  Smart vacuums are also common.  The iRobot Roomba i7+ can be connected via wi-fi to Amazon's Alexa. The vacuum can auto-map rooms and dispose of the dirt it collects. 
     Personal robots such as Hanson Robotics' Little Sophia (Hanson Robotics Ltd., 2019) will become common within five years.  A variety of personal robots are now available that are designed to care for your elderly parent, educate your kids, take care of your pets, and more (Marr, 2019; Inventions World, 2018).

Smart Cars

     Smart cars and trucks can auto-navigate, identify and avoid road hazards, and adjust speed to match the cars around them.  In December 2018 a man was spotted sleeping in his Tesla as it was traveling down a California highway at 70 mph (Davies, 2018)!  In March 2019 Ford announced it will begin production of autonomous commercial vehicles in 2021 at a new Michigan facility (Ford, 2019).  Smart cars and trucks will be commonplace by 2030; Lyft and Uber drivers will be out of a job.


     Many rules-based jobs can today be done by AI: information technology (system administration and network threat detection); engineering and architecture (routine designs and specifications); medicine (image analysis, diagnosis, and surgeries); finance (stock trades and wealth management); human resources and management; and education (teaching).

     In 2012, 8.7% of surgeons performed general robotic surgery; by 2018 it was 35.1% (Sheetz, MD, MSc, Claflin, BS, & Dimick, MD, MPH, 2020).  In 2000, Goldman Sachs employed 600 equity traders; today it employs two (Kelly, 2019). Thus far in 2020, investment bank revenues are up 12%, but jobs are down 6% due to automation (Toplensky, 2020).

     Artificial Intelligence will replace about 16% of HR jobs by 2030 (Forbes Coaches Council, 2018).  Today, AI's are capable of searching social media for candidates that match the criteria for an open position, contacting them, analyzing his/her resume, and conducting the first interview in the hiring process.

     In addition to searching for particular job skills, an AI can target its searches by parameters such as income, salary, age, spending habits, and more.  It can screen a candidate's social media posts, his/her friends and their posts, and groups to discover whetrher the candidate supports social or political causes that the hiring entity finds acceptable or unacceptable.  Today, one must be especially careful who one's friends are.

      Using social media, an AI can even determine whether a candidate is honest and ethical.  DeepSense, by Frrole, pulls information from a candidate's social media accounts.  The AI sums up the applicant's personality using tools such as DISC and Big Five, as well as analyzing linguistic patterns and word usage (Thibodeaux, 2017; Farokhmanesh, 2019).

      A software package called Olivia, by Paradox, is designed to be the first interviewer of a candidate.  Olivia can communicate via web or mobile platforms and social media channels.  She looks for the best applicants and passes them through to a human recruiter (Paradox, n.d.).

    Using a video interview, an AI can apply biometric and psychometric analysis to determine if a candidate is a good fit for the hiring entity's culture.  The HireVue HR Platform compares an applicant's personality characteristics gleaned from a video interview to characteristics of an organization's successful current employees.  It then gives a score that represents the probability the candidate will be successful if hired.  This AI is currently used by over 700 of America's largest companies in their hiring processes (HireVue, n.d.).
There are numerous You Tube videos that train a candidate how to get past the bots, including writing a resume, scrubbing one's social media, and doing the video interview.


     Previously, pundits have divided society into "Haves" and "Have Nots."  That is changing; artificial intelligence is dividing American society into "Fits" and "Misfits."  Americans are experiencing voluntary behavior modification through social media; we are giving up privacy in exchange for convenience.  As AI technology becomes more widely applied in the United States, people will carefully and continually modify their social media to show they have acceptable friends, acceptable thoughts, and an acceptable level of responsibility, honesty, and integrity that an AI might look for.  Misfits will find it difficult to get a job, borrow money, or join certain organizations.

     Interestingly, the same is happening in China, though for different reasons.  In China, the government is deploying AI technology to monitor and modify the behavior of its citizenry.  The Chinese are experiencing involuntary behavior modification through social media, and the elimination of privacy for the benefit of the state.

     Every Chinese (and foreigner in some parts of China) has a profile in the National Credit Information Sharing Platform created by the government.  The application monitors social media, tracks whether a person posts material acceptable to the government, and who a person's friends are. This information is combined with other government databases (such as financial and judicial transactions) to give the person a "social score."  If one posts unacceptable content, has friends with a low social score, or even receives a ticket for jaywalking, one's score will go down.  This score determines if a person is "Trusted" or "Untrusted."  The "Untrusted" cannot travel, borrow money, purchase a car or real estate, send a child to certain elite schools, or even obtain basic government services (Leigh, 2018).

     The United States and China are also the largest suppliers of AI surveillance technology.  China is the largest supplier through its Belt & Road program; Huawei alone has its systems in 50 countries.  American companies supply 32 countries.  75 countries actively use AI surveillance. 64 countries use facial recognition, 56 countries have smart city systems, and 52 countries have smart policing systems.  Russia, China, Saudi Arabia, and others use this technology for mass surveillance of their respective populations (Feldstein, 2019).  Big Brother actually is watching.

     Thus American society and Chinese society are approaching the same result from opposite directions.  Chinese categorized as "Untrusted" are essentially cut off from society, and since they are not allowed to travel, cannot even leave the society that no longer wants them.  Similarly, American Misfits will become increasingly isolated from society, and this will have many unforeseen economic and social consequences for the United States.


     Politicians and thought leaders are clueless about the AI Revolution going on around them.  The rapidity of revolutionary change is underestimated; up to 47% of jobs may be gone by 2025 (Clifford, 2016) and people will not have time to adjust.  In addition, not everyone is suited for the high-skilled careers of a post-Revolution society; what will happen to them?
`
     As we have seen, the misuse of AI can quickly detach a citizen from his/her society, creating desperate people and weakening society and government institutions.  At the same time, the rapid adoption of AI throughout all sectors of the economy simultaneously may cause consumer income to collapse, bringing down entire national economies and possibly cascading globally.

     So what can be done to manage the AI Revolution and blunt the disruption to society during its transition to a new economy?  We briefly examine two paths that have emerged: adjust capitalism or adopt socialism.
Some ideas to adjust the American capitalist economy include:

Ø    Institute a shorter work week (perhaps twenty-four hours?) with pay staying at current levels.  This would create more job openings while maintaining income levels.  A similar modification of the work week to forty hours was introduced during the Great Depression in an attempt to reduce massive unemployment.

Ø    As people become unemployed, many will start a business in an attempt to replace that income.  Rising entrepreneurism could create a dynamic high-growth small business economy.  Government could encourage (and possibly accelerate) this trend by simplifying regulations to make it easier to create and run a business.

Ø    Make education more accessible and affordable.  AI may actually accelerate this as human teachers are replaced, reducing cost to institutions providing the education.  Making a quality education affordable could accelerate the acquisition of new skillsets by those displaced by AI.

Some ideas to transform American capitalism to socialism include:

Ø    Institute a Universal Basic Income through taxing business profits.  This idea would have to be implemented quickly enough to prevent the collapse of consumer income (and thereby prevent the collapse of consumer demand in the economy).  Assuming this, businesses would become fantastically profitable as their largest expense, human labor, is greatly reduced.  These profits would then be taxed to finance UBI.  Implementation of this idea would be difficult to manage, but is nevertheless a possible solution.  A related idea, the negative income tax, could also work and may be easier to implement within current tax law.  A negative income tax would provide stipends to those who fall below a certain income level.

Ø    Considering most people are currently insured by their employers, Universal Healthcare would need to be a part of the socialist solution.  The massive number of people that would become unemployed during the AI revolution would require a healthcare plan.

Ø    Finally, for the socialist path to work, illegal immigration would have to be halted.  Even with the increased productivity AI machines bring, resources would not be limitless and would have to be targeted toward unemployed American citizens to prevent income collapse.

     The world will end up adopting some combination of the above solutions, with each country tailoring a unique solution based on the rate of societal and economic change and available resources. 


     The United States is in the midst of the AI Revolution now, and it is unclear if government can move fast enough to effectively manage the revolution to a smooth conclusion.  The advantages of dramatically lower costs, far fewer mistakes, and much higher productivity that intelligent machines offer over human workers make the economic proposition irresistible.  Considering the significant investments cash-strapped businesses will be forced to make to keep their human workers happy and healthy during this pandemic, accelerated investment in AI becomes a no-brainer.

     What kind of post-Revolution society will we create?  Will the U.S. stick with capitalism, move toward socialism, or create a society with elements of both?  Can the chosen ideas be implemented quickly enough to match the speed at which AI technology is being adopted?

     What should be the ethical and legal limits of the application of AI technology in our society?  Society needs to have a conversation about the proper use of AI technology, and government must translate that conversation into a body of law that prevents any abuse of AI that divides or alienates citizens from their society.

     Americans still have a lot to discuss, and the challenges are upon us.

     Note:  A visual presentation of this paper can be found here.

"Atlas." Accessed through Wikimedia Commons. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike 4.0 International license. Source: https://www.kansascity.com/news/
business/technology/917xpi/picture62197987/
ALTERNATES/FREE_640/atlas%20from%20boston%20dynamics.

Barrett, B. (2019, 03 25). "McDonald's Bites On Big Data With $300 Million Acquisition." Retrieved from Wired:
https://www.wired.com/story/
mcdonalds-big-data-dynamic-yield-acquisition/

Boston Dynamics. (n.d.). Atlas: The World's Most Dynamic Humanoid. Retrieved 03 26, 2019, from Boston Dynamics:
https://www.bostondynamics.com/atlas

CB Insights. (2019, 03 13). The United States of Artificial Intelligence. Retrieved from CB Insights:
https://www.cbinsights.com/research/4
artificial-intelligence-startup-us-map/

Clifford, C. (2016, 11 18). "Elon Musk Says Robots Will Push Us to a Universal Basic Income—Here's How It Would Work." Retrieved from CNBC Make It: https://www.cnbc.com/2016/11/18/
elon-musk-says-robots-will-push-us-to-a-
universal-basic-income-heres-how-it-would-work.html

Cole, W. (2018, 11 13). "Navy's Only Drone Submarine Hunter Arrives At Pearl Harbor." Retrieved from Military.com:
https://www.military.com/daily-news/2018/11/13/
navys-only-drone-submarine-hunter-arrives-pearl-harbor.html

Davies, A. (2018, 12 03). "A Sleeping Tesla Driver Highlights Autopilot's Biggest Flaw." Retrieved from Wired:
https://www.wired.com/story
tesla-sleeping-driver-dui-arrest-autopilot/

Farokhmanesh, M. (2019, 01 30). "The next frontier in hiring is AI-driven."
Retrieved from The Verge:
https://www.theverge.com/2019/1/30/18202335/
ai-artificial-intelligence-recruiting-hiring-hr-bias-prejudice

Feldstein, S. (2019, September 17). The Global Expansion of AI Surveillance. Retrieved from Carnegie Endowment For International Peace: https://carnegieendowment.org/2019/09/
17/global-expansion-of-ai-surveillance-pub-79847

Forbes Coaches Council. (2018, 08 10). "10 Ways Artificial Intelligence Will Change Recruitment Practices." Retrieved from Forbes:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/
forbescoachescouncil/2018/08/10/
10-ways-artificial-intelligence-will-change-recruitment-practices/

Ford. (2019, 03 20). Ford Adds 2nd North American Site to Build Battery Electrics; Michigan Workers to Make Its First Autonomous Vehicles. Retrieved from Ford: https://media.ford.com/content/fordmedia/fna/us/
en/news/2019/03/20/
ford-adds-2nd-north-american-site-to-build-battery-electrics.html

Gregg, A. (2019, 03 06). "Air Force Completes First Flight Test of Valkyrie Unmanned Fighter Jet." Retrieved from The Washington Post: https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2019/
03/07/air-force-completes-first-flight-test-
valkyrie-unmanned-fighter-jet/

Hanson Robotics Ltd. (2019, 02 11). Meet Little Sophia, Hanson Robotics' Newest Robot. Retrieved from You Tube:
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7cGRPvN5430

HireVue. (n.d.). Retrieved 03 26, 2019, from HireVue:
https://www.hirevue.com/

HP Tech@Work. (2019, 03 01). What's Next For Voice Assistants? Retrieved from HP Inc.: https://store.hp.com/us/en/cv/
taw-article?ai=186&ap=44&au=
Whats_next_for_voice_assistants&am=Mar&ay=2019

Inventions World. (2018, 05 17). Best 7 Home Robots With Artificial Intelligence Will Change Your Life Soon. Retrieved from You Tube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4QRUqOVo6FQ

Kelly, J. (2019, July 31). "The Ax Is Falling Again At The Big Banks: Citigroup Announces Hundreds Of Job Cuts." Retrieved from Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/jackkelly/2019/
07/31/the-ax-is-falling-again-at-the-big-
bankscitigroup-announces-hundreds-of-job-cut/#dea87472a7e8

Leigh, K. a. (2018, 12 01). "How China Is Planning to Rank 1.3 Billion People." Retrieved from Bloomberg Businessweek:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-12-01/china-s-radical-plan-to-judge-each-citizen-s-behavior-quicktake

Liptak, A. (2019, 03 09). "The US Air Forces's Jet-Powered Robotic Wingman Is Like Something Out of a Video Game." Retrieved from The Verge: https://www.theverge.com/2019/3/9/18255358/
us-air-force-xq58-a-valkyrie-prototype-
robotic-loyal-wingman-drone-successful-test-flight

Marr, B. (2019, 03 17). What Are The Top 5 Major Robotics Trends To Watch In 2019? Retrieved from LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/
what-top-5-major-robotics-trends-watch-2019-bernard-marr/

Maxey, K. (2019, 03 18). USAF Successfully Tests Jet Drone. Retrieved from engineering.com:
 https://www.engineering.com/DesignerEdge/
DesignerEdgeArticles/ArticleID/
18735/USAF-Successfully-Tests-Jet-Drone.aspx\

Mizokami, K. (2019, 02 14). "The Navy Just Ordered the 'Orca', an Extra-Large Unmanned Submarine by Boeing." Retrieved from Popular Mechanics:
https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/navy-ships/
a26344025/navy-extra-large-unmanned-submarines-boeing/

Mizokami, K. (2019, 03 14). "The U.S. Navy Wants to Build a "Ghost Fleet" of Drone Warships." Retrieved from Popular Mechanics: https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/navy-ships/
a26827544/us-navy-ghost-unmanned-warships/

Osborn, K. (2018, 05 24). "Army Builds Robot Attack Tanks and Ground War Drones." Retrieved from Warrior Maven:
 https://defensemaven.io/warriormaven/land/
army-builds-robot-attack-tanks-and-ground-war-drones-KqnAqR_xHU6R6bPrJBtOsg/

Paradox. (n.d.). Retrieved 03 26, 2019, from Paradox:
https://paradox.ai/about-olivia

Porter, E. (2019, 02 04). "Tech Is Splitting the U.S. Workforce in Two." Retrieved from New York Times:
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/04/business/
economy/productivity-inequality-wages.html?
action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage

Retail Business Services. (2019, 01 14). Nearly 500 Robots, Powered by Retail Business Services and Badger Technologies, Hit the Floor at Ahold Delhaize USA's GIANT/MARTIN'S and Stop & Shop Brands. Retrieved from Globe Newswire:
 https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2019/
01/14/1691009/0/en/Nearly-500-Robots-Powered-by-
Retail-Business-Services-and-Badger-Technologies-Hit-the-Floor-at-Ahold-Delhaize-USA-s-GIANT-MARTIN-S-and-Stop-Shop-Brands.html

Sheetz, MD, MSc, K. H., Claflin, BS, J., & Dimick, MD, MPH, J. B. (2020, January 10). Trends in the Adoption of Robotic Surgery for Common Surgical Procedures. Retrieved from JAMA Network:
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/
jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2758472

Thibodeaux, W. (2017, 11 03). "This Artificial Intelligence Can Predict How You'll Behave At Work Based on Social Media." Retrieved from Inc.: https://www.inc.com/wanda-thibodeaux/
this-artificial-intelligence-can-use-social-media-
to-tell-hiring-managers-about-your-personality.html

Toplensky, R. (2020, May 13). "What's Good for Investment Banks Isn't Necessarily Good for Investment Bankers." Retrieved from The Wall Street Journal:
https://www.wsj.com/articles/whats-good-for-investment-banks-
isnt-necessarily-good-for-investment-bankers-11589362027