## Preface
Today, many people are filled with an extremely optimistic, even naive, argument: `With the widespread adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) and automated robots, humanity will usher in a "great harmonious world."`
In their descriptions, AI handles farming, manufacturing, deliveries, and all trivial tasks, while we humans only need to lie on the sofa, sip free milk tea, scroll through short videos, and directly enter the ultimate state of "distribution according to need" — a state of ultimate idleness.
To these friends, I want to say: **Wake up, that's not the future; that's your wishful sci-fi fantasy.**
## Core Logic: AI Is About "Cost Reduction," Not "Charity"
Many overlook the most basic business常识: **Who owns these AIs?**
Current AI giants, whether overseas like OpenAI and Google or domestic ones like Alibaba and ByteDance, have invested hundreds of billions of dollars. The motivation behind this capital investment isn't to "liberate humanity's hands" but to **improve production efficiency, reduce labor costs, and capture超额利润**.
If an automated production line can replace the output of 10,000 workers while its maintenance cost is equivalent to the wages of only 1,000 workers, the remaining 9,000 people won't be "taken care of." In the capital's ledger, these 9,000 people are termed "redundant costs."
Why would major capitalists spend enormous R&D costs to create robots only to produce free food and clothing for you? If most people in society lose their sources of income (jobs), you won't even qualify to purchase the cheap goods produced by AI.
## Human Nature: No Benefit, No Effort
Some argue that AI will drive costs extremely low, and the government could distribute money (UBI, Universal Basic Income).
Leaving aside the economic controversies of such a model, let's analyze it from the perspective of human nature: **When technology is controlled by a few, such "benevolence" is extremely fragile.**
**Loss of Survival Rights and Bargaining Power:** When human labor no longer holds economic value, humanity's leverage against capital completely disappears. Previously, workers could strike because factories needed people; if factories become fully automated in the future, your only role is that of a "consumer."
**The冷酷 of Distribution:** Don't幻想 that the upper echelons will act out of great compassion. History shows that unless forced by necessary利益交换, the advantaged classes rarely voluntarily share生存资源. When AI becomes pervasive enough to no longer require human assistance, the "lying flat" of the底层 might not be a leisurely vacation but a慢性边缘化 at the fringes of society.
## How Will You Pay the "One Cent" Bill?
Even if AI produces a piece of clothing at a cost of just one cent, as long as you don't have that one cent, you'll still freeze.
Many people's vision of "lying flat" is built on the foundation of **maximized social welfare**. But where does welfare come from? From taxes. Where do taxes come from? From corporate profits and personal income.
- If humans don't work, personal income tax drops to zero.
- If capitalists avoid taxes or transfer assets through AI (which is almost inevitable), the social welfare system will quickly collapse.
Major capitalists would never do the foolish thing of "支出与收入不成正比." They will use AI to harvest higher premiums. For example, "handmade products" will become luxury items, while ordinary people can only consume平庸物质 produced by AI and, under the manipulation of algorithms, surrender their remaining time and data value.
## Conclusion
AI is indeed the most powerful tool in human history, but the tool itself isn't inherently just; it only obeys the will of its master.
**The so-called "universal lying flat" is essentially a dangerous gamble that hands over the right to survival to algorithms and capital.** The real future might not be "no need to work" but rather humanity being forced into even fiercer competition to seize the tiny amount of "high-order value" that AI cannot replace.
If you start fantasizing about lying flat now, by the time the AI era truly arrives, you might not even have a place to lie down.
