The New Mutuality

Decisions taken in this decade will, to a great extent, set the course for life on Earth for this century and several to come.

One virus, economic or biologic, now infects the globe in weeks. The climate crisis and the threats of nuclear war and bioterrorism are exacerbated by the widespread use of and access to smart tools.

The rise of artificial intelligence (AI) will produce unprecedented wealth, broader access to clean energy and mitigation of disease and drudgery. But with the benefits of AI come numerous threats—some directly existential and some socially cancerous like spreading inequity.

AI and related exponential technologies are rapidly aggregating wealth and economic control—and the concentration is likely to accelerate as capabilities approach human-surpassing artificial general intelligence (over the next 20-30 years).

It is increasingly one climate system, one economy, and one media market. In a growing number of ways, small and large, we are all connected, we are all in this together.

This new level of interdependence requires a new level of mutuality—acting in concert for the common good. There are five important implications of this new mutuality:

1. Stronger safety net: Cities and states need stronger social safety nets to support more frequent transitions through climate shocks (i.e., fire, storms, floods), economic dislocations and combinations of the two (add terrorism and warfare in many regions).

2. Solutionaries: #DifferenceMaking is the superpower in the innovation economy. Schools and colleges should engage learners in community-connected projects that help them discover and develop their strengths and begin to make their unique contribution. It’s time to cultivate “solutionaries.”

Everyone needs affordable lifelong access to learning that is linked to contribution opportunities. That doesn’t mean free college for all (a big giveaway to the rich) but it does mean free and debt-free learning sprints to good jobs.

3. Sustainability: As the world’s largest investor said in his annual letter to CEOs: “Every government, company, and shareholder must confront climate change.” Every region and organization needs a sustainability agenda.

4. Social economy: Imagine if the gig economy expanded to include broader forms of service and contribution. Imagine private markets that unlocked value creation for the caring economy, with measured efficacy that promoted real contribution—not just clock-punching.

An activated service economy might be an alternative or supplement to a universal basic income with real incentives for community contributions.

5. Sharing: Surviving the innovation economy and the age of superintelligence after that will require new ways to share. We will need to construct new ways to share the abundance being aggregated by a handful of tech giants.

A new report by the Future of Humanity Institute discusses innovative strategies for distributing the benefits of AI. It will require a portfolio of public-benefit agreements, limiting regulations (like recent EU proposals), and taxation that will help share the benefits and wealth created by AI-powered tech giants.

The world’s great religions have always preached mutuality. The predicted oscillations of complex natural and man-made systems suggest that it’s never been more important to recognize that we’re all in this together. This new chapter of human existence requires new rules of mutual support, access to learning and opportunity, and a focus on sustainability.

Senator Bernie Sanders might call this a socialist agenda. But this new opportunity platform is closer to European Flexicurity, with a big dose of solution-focused public and private investment that rewards entrepreneurship (i.e., spotting an opportunity and delivering value). We’ll need to invent our way out of this interesting mixture of opportunity and challenge, abundance and existential threat.

More than ever, the climate crisis and the rise of AI mean we’re all in this together. It’s time for community conversations about the implications of this new age of mutuality.

This article was written by Tom Vander Ark from Forbes and was legally licensed by AdvisorStream through the NewsCred publisher network.