The Idle Trap: Is UBI a Rescue or a Sentence for the Human Psyche? 🤖🧠

Progress in the fields of artificial intelligence and robotics is an undeniable fact. As a society, we are moving forward, and automation—both digital and physical—is slowly becoming the new standard 🚀. However, for someone who has spent most of their life on a factory floor performing manual tasks, this bright vision of the future has a darker side 🏭.

Imagine the production hall of tomorrow. A robot picks up goods from a conveyor belt from another robot that produced them. The entire process is supervised by one person—let’s call them a supervisor—an expert in machine operation. In a place where fifty people used to work, today only one remains 👤. Of course, theoretically, those remaining forty-nine people could "retrain." But the math and the physicality of the world are relentless: we don't need fifty supervisors for one line. The world is not infinite, and at this scale of automation, it is clear that the majority simply won’t have anything to do 📉.

A Financial Foundation Isn't Everything 💰

In response to this problem, the concept of UBI (Universal Basic Income) arises. In my view, such a benefit should provide everyone who has lost their job with a steady income allowing for a dignified minimum: a private room in a shared housing community and money for normal grocery shopping 🏠🛒. A roof over your head, food, and that’s it.

Does this solve the problem? I honestly doubt it. I have been unemployed twice in my life. Although these periods lasted only 2–3 months, for me, they felt like an eternity ⏳. Before it happened, I used to think with a hint of envy about the "idlers" who sleep until ten while I rushed to the factory at five in the morning. Reality quickly verified those fantasies. I didn't like being unemployed at all. The worst part wasn't the financial issue, as the benefits allowed me to survive. The worst part was the idleness, the helplessness, and the lack of occupation, which were literally killing me and pushing my thoughts toward destructive nonsense 🌫️.

What Will We Do With Our Free Time? 🤔

This is the key question that UBI enthusiasts rarely answer: what will people do so they don't lose their minds? Optimists will say that free time will unlock layers of creativity. That some people will take up art, writing, or social media 🎨✍️. Perhaps passions hidden for years due to a lack of time will be born?

However, my experience also suggests another, darker scenario. I fear that for many, a reality without work will become a gray, unbearable existence. A world where the only way to escape the feeling of uselessness is "intoxicating oneself against reality" 🥃. Without a sense of purpose, even with a full stomach, a person begins to decay.

Would I Find Myself in a UBI World? 🤷‍♂️

I ask myself this question, and honestly—I don't know. I recently discovered a passion for creating; I published a novella titled "404: Reality Not Found" and I am working on another fantasy book 📖✨. It might seem that UBI is an ideal setup for me: I have the time to write.

The truth, however, is that writing is not a "9-to-5" job like in a factory. It is a process that cannot always be controlled. Sometimes I write because I know exactly what I want to convey, but there are moments when I simply don't know 😶. Inspiration doesn't come on command for eight hours a day. And here the fear arises: what to do with the remaining time? How to fill the void after the rhythm that physical work provided for decades? Is passion enough not to drown in idleness when the bad days come?

Seeking Balance ⚖️

I am not writing this to negate progress. Robotization is inevitable and, in many aspects, good. However, we must start talking about UBI not only in terms of bank transfers but, above all, in terms of the mental hygiene of society. Basic income alone, without an idea of how to manage the human need to be needed, may turn out to be a cure worse than the disease 💊.

We must arrange the world so that technology serves us to build a reality where a person without a job still feels valuable—even when their passion is silent and the robots on the floor have long since taken over their former duties. We must talk about this now to find a balance before this new reality catches us unprepared 🤝.