We’re living through a technological shift unlike any in history. As artificial intelligence and robotics rapidly evolve, they’re doing more than just changing how we work—they’re changing why we work. Over the next decade, if humanity can share automation tech evenly across society, we’re facing the real possibility that most people simply won’t need to work to survive. Some futurists, including myself, are calling this the Automated Abundance Economy.

The basic idea is straightforward: once machines can do most jobs—like farming, construction, healthcare, education—the essentials of life can be produced in abundance, with very little human labor. In that world, wealth stops being the reward for work and becomes a shared outcome of automation.

At the heart of this shift are two forces: near-total automation and a proposed universal basic income (UBI). Machines and software are getting better, faster, and cheaper, and they’re already replacing some jobs en masse—from factory floors to fast food counters. Probably within five years, machines will routinely build our homes, grow our food, teach our kids, and care for the elderly. That kind of productivity will generate immense wealth, even if humans aren’t the ones directly creating it anymore.

So how do we make sure that wealth benefits everyone? That’s where UBI comes in. It’s not welfare—it’s a dividend. A share of the value created by automation, distributed to every citizen simply because they’re part of the system that led to this exact economy.

Critics will say this is socialism, but it’s not. The Automated Abundance Economy still supports private ownership, entrepreneurship, and innovation. People who invest in automation will see returns. But the system would also be taxed or regulated so that a portion of that wealth comes back to the public in the form of UBI, stock options from AI companies, or similar ideas.

In this context, UBI and other social monetary programs become a kind of economic citizenship—a guarantee that you’ll have access to food, shelter, healthcare, and education, without having to punch a clock. It also challenges the old idea that a person’s value is tied to their job. In this future, we all have intrinsic economic value just by being alive.

Of course, even though work won’t be a requirement for survival, many people will still choose to work. But in this new system, motivation will be intrinsic, not economic. Creative fields, gig work, writing, design—these will flourish. And since survival isn’t on the line, people can afford to take risks, experiment, or fail without fear.

Some parts of this are already happening. Automation is steadily pushing humans out of repetitive and manual jobs. The Automated Abundance Economy just follows that trend to its logical conclusion. Because when machines can handle everything from cleaning to caregiving, it forces us to ask: what do we want to do with our time, if survival no longer demands most of it?

The answer could be a global cultural renaissance. A world where creativity, curiosity, and connection define daily life; a world where everyone has the chance to be a maker, thinker, or explorer. We may finally have the time and freedom to fully explore human potential, no longer bogged down by the daily grind.

The Automated Abundance Economy is not just about work, either. Futurists like me want the government to give or lease a humanoid robot to every American household. These robots would handle everyday chores—like cooking, cleaning, and doing laundry—saving hours each week for families. Over time, owning a personal robot might be as normal as owning a smartphone today.

Even governance could evolve. If machines can enforce safety, compliance, and even legal standards, we might not need as much traditional bureaucracy. Public systems could be managed by transparent AI trained on ethical frameworks and shaped by citizens. Some even suggest models like liquid democracy, where people vote on policies directly, feeding those preferences into intelligent systems that execute decisions.

What I like best about the Automated Abundance Economy is it avoids the worst of both capitalism and socialism. It doesn’t aim to destroy markets or ban private ownership. Instead, it keeps innovation alive while making sure no one is left behind.

Still, none of this will be easy. If we’re not careful, automation could concentrate wealth and power even further. Surveillance, job displacement, and cultural backlash are real risks. Engineers alone can’t shape this future—we’ll need ethicists, artists, policymakers, and everyday people at the decision table. It has to be ethical, inclusive, and democratic.

Like it or not, the Automated Abundance Economy is coming far faster than most people realize. Our task isn’t to fight the future—it’s to guide it, to shape a society where freedom, fulfillment, and human dignity aren’t just reserved for the lucky few. This isn’t just a new kind of economy; it’s a new way of life, one society should embrace.