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As it becomes increasingly clear that artificial intelligence and other technologies are going to be history's most aggressive job killers, more people (in Silicon Valley and elsewhere) are re-examining the possibility that a universal basic income could provide a solution. But as NYT Mag's Annie Lowrey reports, "No experiment has been truly complete, studying what happens when you give a whole community money for an extended period of time -- when nobody has to worry where his or her next meal is coming from or fear the loss of a job or the birth of a child." But now, in a few villages in Kenya, a non-profit is looking to run the biggest such experiment yet. And it's already underway. "Just like that, with peals of ululation and children breaking into dance in front of the strangers, the whole village was lifted out of extreme poverty." Can test cases in some of the least automated places in the world provide clues to our survival in places where AI is already taking over? This is the future of not working.
+ The Outline: AI and automation are about to implode blue collar jobs. (And AI doesn't care about trade agreements or what silly, little humans try to do when it comes to securing borders.)
We should function as reasonable people. It seems dangerous to do otherwise. And yet, human evolution has not selected against confirmation bias. The New Yorker's Elizabeth Kolbert examines what seems to be a uniquely human trait: Why Facts Don't Change Our Minds: "If reason is designed to generate sound judgments, then it's hard to conceive of a more serious design flaw than confirmation bias. Imagine ... a mouse that thinks the way we do. Such a mouse, 'bent on confirming its belief that there are no cats around,' would soon be dinner. To the extent that confirmation bias leads people to dismiss evidence of new or underappreciated threats -- the human equivalent of the cat around the corner -- it's a trait that should have been selected against. The fact that both we and it survive ... proves that it must have some adaptive function, and that function ... is related to our hypersociability ... Presented with someone else's argument, we're quite adept at spotting the weaknesses. Almost invariably, the positions we're blind about are our own." (I've definitely spotted this trend in those who disagree with me.)
"The move by the Justice and Education departments reverses guidance the Obama administration publicized in May 2016, which said a federal law known as Title IX protects the right of transgender students to use restrooms and locker rooms that match their gender identities." Trump just rescinded the Obama rule on transgender students' bathroom use. So in addition to protecting us from refugees running for their lives, we're now being protected from the dangerous threat presented by transgender students. We're better than this. Leave them kids alone.
+ Jackie Evancho, the 16-year-old singer who sang the national anthem at Donald Trump's inauguration has a transgender sister and hopes to meet with Trump to enlighten him on the issue.
+ Vox: "While bathroom access is very important to trans people, the guidance was about much more -- rooted in a discussion about the scope of federal civil rights laws and whether they should and do protect LGBTQ people."
+ Several states have already vowed to continue protecting transgender rights. Of course, federal guidance is mostly aimed at the states that won't...
"I became fascinated not so much by the boy in the video, but rather by the apparatus around him — the adults putting their time and money into Bryson Morris and making the assumption that, soon, he would have enough fans to justify the effort. They were either delusional or knew something that everyone else didn't." Sam Rosen in The Ringer: Building the Next Bieber.
Here's one area where America is certain to see job growth: Immigration and customs agents. From the NYT: The new Trump deportation rules allow for far more expulsions: "The change in enforcement priorities will require a considerable increase in resources. With an estimated 11 million people in the country illegally, the government has long had to set narrower priorities, given the constraints on staffing and money."
+ "After a lot of persistence, effort and patience, a pro-immigrant ethos has gradually taken root here." From NPR: A thriving rural town's winning formula faces new threats. (It turns out we're not in Kansas anymore. And in some ways, neither is Kansas.)
"She pops a green pill filled with cannabis oil into her mouth with a sip of vitamin water. Then Ms. Brunn, who has neuropathy, settles back in her wheelchair and waits for the jabbing pain in her shoulders, arms and hands to ebb. 'I don't feel high or stoned,' she said. 'All I know is I feel better when I take this.'" Winnie Hu in the NYT: When Retirement Comes With a Daily Dose of Cannabis.
"Under French military supervision, four golden eagle chicks hatched last year atop drones -- born into a world of terror and machines they would be bred to destroy." Avi Selk in WaPo: Terrorists are building drones. France is destroying them with eagles. (Now I feel less weird about training my beagles to defuse dirty bombs.)
"The longest personality study of all time, published in Psychology and Aging and recently highlighted by the British Psychological Society, suggests that over the course of a lifetime, just as your physical appearance changes and your cells are constantly replaced, your personality is also transformed beyond recognition." It turns out you're a completely different person at 14 and 77. (My friends and family are counting down the days until I turn 77...)
+ NYT: Men who exercise strenuously may have a lower libido. (It's like I always say: I'm a lover not a jogger.)
+ "The City of Stamford has issued the couple a blight citation, which carries a $100 daily fine, for failing to remove or cover up the N-word in front of their home." An interracial couple has been fined for not removing a slur someone else spray-painted on their house.
This is a weekly best-of version of the NextDraft newsletter. For daily updates and to get the NextDraft app, go here. (Original story reprinted with permission from NextDraft.)
