During these holidays, I've read "Manna" (short, 70 pages, you can read it in less than 3 hours, and it's free), a science fiction novel by Marshall Brain from 2003.
20 years later, this book is more relevant than ever because it predicts better than any other how the AI revolution would start, very much in the style of ChatGPT. Something that wasn't at all obvious, even less than a year ago. The first ones to start losing their jobs are the “Manna”gers.
The book discusses how we can either get lost in money-focused systems and have unfairness (like the U.S, dystopia) or use AI to make a great world for everyone (like the Australia idea, utopia) with almost infinite productivity and energy.
Here's a summary of the main ideas of the book (contains spoilers):
1 - Dystopian Vision: The book starts in the near future, where artificial intelligence systems, like "Manna", manage fast food restaurants and other industries. A sort of ChatGPT constantly instructs humans on every tiny task they have to do. Micromanagers disappear, and most humans become extensions of the AI. These systems become increasingly everywhere, pushing human workers out of their jobs and leading to massive unemployment once AI becomes fully robotic. Society splits into two classes: the wealthy elite who own the machines and the vast majority living in "housing territories", essentially automated concentration camps where life is monotonous and dehumanized.
2 - Utopian Vision: The book's second half offers an alternative, where AI and automation are used to create a post-scarcity utopia. Instead of concentrating wealth in the hands of a few, resources are shared equally among everyone. People live in a society called the "Australia Project", where technology is used to better everyone's life. People have the freedom to pursue their passions and interests while machines take care of basic needs.