Today's episode does double duty as an interview and an announcement. Joe Williams, host of the new Kairos.fm show "Beyond the Paycheck: Reclaiming the Case for UBI in the Age of AI," joins Jacob to talk about his background as a freelance translator and how AI quietly dismantled his livelihood in 2025. From there the conversation expands into whether this moment is really different from past waves of automation, who exactly makes up the tech billionaire class, and why you should probably raise an eyebrow when someone like Elon Musk says he supports UBI. Go check out Reclaiming UBI!

Chapters

(00:00) - Intro
(05:01) - Joe's Background
(19:41) - What is UBI & Why Does It Matter Now?
(27:25) - ASIDE: The Corporation Who Cried " My Technology Will End Work"
(32:25) - Wealth Concetration & the Digital Economy
(39:06) - The AI Gentry
(48:13) - ASIDE: Sam Altman + OpenResearch + Worldcoin
(53:38) - Powerful UBI Supporters Should Raise Red Flags
(01:02:56) - How to Read AI Gentry Discourse Critically
(01:10:00) - Who Is "Reclaiming UBI" For?
(01:18:17) - Outro

Critical Links
Below are the most important links for this episode. For more, visit the episode page on Kairos.fm.

NEW KAIROS.FM PODCAST - Reclaiming UBI: Work and Values in the Age of AI
Josh Steimle blog post - Will AI Destroy Jobs? 500 Years of Predictions Say No
Smithsonian Magazine article - What the Luddites Really Fought Against
ITIF report - Oops: The Predicted 47 Percent of Job Loss From AI Didn't Happen
Frontiers in Artificial Intelligence journal article - AI, Universal Basic Income, and Power: Symbolic Violence in the Tech Elite's Narrative
Time article - What to Know About Worldcoin and the Controversy Around It
Wikipedia page - World (blockchain)