Is Labor Going To Zero?

Hi friends, I'm David Shapiro — AI researcher, futurist, and the person behind the Post-Labor Economics framework that Ken and I just spent an hour unpacking on the UBI Works podcast. If you've been following UBI Works, you already know that automation isn't a problem for "someday." It's happening now. What you may not have is a clear picture of where this all leads and what we actually do about it. That's what my book Labor/Zero lays out. It's a rigorously cited roadmap for an economy that doesn't depend on human labor for survival — covering everything from why wages decoupled from productivity decades ago, to the policy architecture (including UBI) that makes a post-labor transition survivable and even prosperous. This isn't utopian speculation. It's built on the same data and structural analysis that organizations like UBI Works use to make the case for basic income, extended into a complete economic framework that policymakers, journalists, and advocates can actually point to. The Kickstarter is live now, and here's why your support matters beyond the book itself: Labor/Zero is designed to move these ideas into the mainstream — to give elected officials, media, and skeptics a single, credible artifact they can engage with. Every backer helps make that case louder. If you've ever wanted a well-sourced answer to "but what's the plan after the jobs go away?" — this is it. 👉 Back the Kickstarter here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/... Follow Dave on X: https://x.com/daveShapi Dave's Substack: https://daveshap.substack.com/ Follow Ken Yang on X: https://x.com/kenjaminyang 0:00 Introduction 1:09 What Is Post-Labor Economics? 5:40 UBI, Guaranteed Income, and Sovereign Wealth 14:58 Job automation, and the Future of Work 24:50 Meaning, Abundance, and Life After Labor 39:52 The Labor Zero Movement 46:34 Labor/Zero Book Launch ——— We are Canada's largest network advancing Universal Basic Income in the AI age. SUBSCRIBE for more videos on UBI Facebook:   / ubiworkscanada   X: https://x.com/ubi_works Instagram:   / ubi_works   Tiktok:   / ubiworks   Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/ubiworks.bsk... Sign up for our email list: https://ubiworks.ca/join