OPINION: Rethinking economic security in age of AI

SEOUL, December 15 (AJP) - In early December, Reuters reported that private capital would help launch the “Invest America Program,” a cornerstone policy of President Trump’s second term. Michael Dell and his wife pledged $6.25 billion to activate what are known as Trump Accounts, an initiative embedded in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act signed into law in July.

Under the program, every American child born between Jan. 1, 2025, and Dec. 31, 2028, will receive $1,000 in seed money at birth. The funds, locked away until age 18, will be invested in index funds tracking the S&P 500. The idea is ambitious: to integrate every American child into the stock market from the moment of birth, reviving an old political ideal of an “Ownership Society” for a new technological era.

That experiment is unfolding as artificial intelligence and robotics accelerate far faster than many economists once anticipated. Automation, long associated with factory floors and logistics centers, is now reshaping professional and office work as well. Advanced AI systems are increasingly capable of performing tasks once reserved for analysts, designers and administrators, reducing the centrality of labor itself.

Earlier forecasts assumed a gradual erosion of jobs, allowing labor markets and social systems time to adapt. Instead, the pace of technological change is compressing that timeline. As labor income weakens, the foundations of income distribution, taxation and social security are coming under strain. Traditional policy responses focused on job creation are proving insufficient, suggesting that deeper structural redesign may be unavoidable.

It is in this context that the "Ownership Society" has reemerged as a potential alternative. Rather than relying solely on wages, the concept seeks to enable citizens to sustain themselves through capital income. Unlike basic income programs, which prioritize consumption, an Ownership Society emphasizes asset accumulation and long-term opportunity.

There are several ways such a transition could take shape. One approach would provide basic asset accounts at birth or early adulthood, seeded with public funds and invested for education, housing or retirement. Another would establish a national A.I. and robotics dividend fund, distributing a share of excess profits generated by technological advances. A third would expand fund-based retirement systems to cover platform workers and nontraditional forms of employment, while a fourth would reform national pension systems to ensure long-term sustainability through lifetime income models.

The central challenge, however, is funding. Directly taxing the profits of technology companies may sound radical, but variations of this idea are already taking hold. Digital taxes, data usage fees and platform regulations are being institutionalized by the OECD and the European Union.

For countries like South Korea, where rapid aging coincides with a manufacturing-heavy economy, the impact of AI and robotics may be especially acute. Redirecting a portion of technology-driven profits toward social safety nets and asset-building could offer a path to sustainable growth.

A more conservative approach would encourage private participation through philanthropy, ESG investing, joint public-private funds and tax incentives. After all, data — the raw material of the A.I. economy — is a public resource generated by citizens themselves. The technology industry rests on social foundations, and sharing its gains with the broader public raises questions not only of fairness, but of long-term viability.

As labor income declines, an Ownership Society offers one vision for maintaining economic stability and social cohesion. If public policy fails to keep pace with the transformations unleashed by A.I. and robotics, inequality and instability may deepen. But with the right framework, the same forces could be turned into shared opportunity.

The future economy may rely less on wages and more on ownership, dividends and capital income. In that world, the state’s role would not be to guarantee jobs, but to open the door to assets. The debate over an Ownership Society, once theoretical, is becoming increasingly urgent in the age of intelligent machines.

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