While kicking back at my computer with a cup of hot coffee, I shut my eyes and tried to imagine the future I’ll retire into. What would the world resemble once AI replaces a majority of mid-level business and administrative positions? So I opened my eyes and asked AI: What will life be like in the year 2030, especially the United States, after the impending AI Revolution?

AI’s response, in part:

🌍 The Year 2030: When Work Changes Forever

In 2030, the global economy no longer revolves around labor—it revolves around orchestration. AI systems now perform most mid-level corporate tasks: logistics, accounting, diagnostics, even legal drafting. The only required corporate employees are those who manage the AI infrastructure staff.

This shift leaves millions of Americans, especially Gen Xers through Gen Z, without traditional employment opportunities. However, rather than collapse, society pivots. New local economies emerge, providing new opportunities for communal connection.

💸 Universal Basic Income: The New Floor

Each year, the US Treasury issues all adult US citizens a $50,000 stipend, paid for by taxes on downsizing organizations. The basic stipend is enough to cover housing, food, and utilities. While not lavish, it’s stable. Some people, to keep busy, start up their own small businesses or fill low-level service jobs — bartending, caregiving, delivery — not necessarily out of need, but to enjoy work’s daily structure, its social engagement, and the supplemental income it provides.

A quiet economic revolution has occurred, one as disruptive as the car economy replacing the horse economy. In the early 1900s, blacksmiths, stable hands, and leather workers, all lost their livelihoods when city streets stinking of manure gave way to city air stinking of gasoline exhaust. Back then, new industries emerged. The same is starting today.

🎨 Hobbies, Hustles, and Human Flourishing

Freed from the daily grind of holding down an office job, many people turn inward to explore their latent talents. Painters paint. Coders build indie games. Gardeners grow food for their neighbors. Some monetize their passions; others simply live more slowly, adapting to a pace that allows for reflection and expression.

After the initial shock and fear of the unknown, displaced workers soon came to appreciate how the economy has bifurcated, how AI handles the infrastructure while humans handle the soul. With more time available to mingle and socialize, neighborhoods create more neighbors and fewer passing strangers.

🏥 Healthcare: Basic for All, Premium for Some

To help lower life expenses, the federal government provides universal healthcare that covers preventive care, emergencies, and chronic conditions. Private insurance still plays a role—especially for elective procedures, advanced therapies, or boutique services. It’s a two-tiered system, one that funds innovation, one that provides general benefits for all.

👶 Population Pressure and Ethical Dilemmas

With fewer people working, providing more time for leisure and social interaction, AI has determined that human destiny is best served with slower population growth. To prevent a potentially catastrophic baby boom, abortion is available though without federal funding. Federal funding is available, however, for younger adults looking to self-sterilize.

While controversial, the self-sterilization debate has been framed as a choice—an opt-in benefit for those desiring a life without generational legacies.

What Do You Think?

Have you considered the near-future changes to society and how it might affect your retirement choices? I just hope that, along with my pension, I also get a universal income stipend.