Last week, I wrote about Venture for America founder Andrew Yang’s unlikely run for president, with the aim of convincing the general public about the need for universal basic income. Whether or not one agrees that UBI is a necessity in today’s digital economy, the stories highlighted in this week’s Heartland Tech newsletter show that inequality is increasingly becoming top of mind for tech companies and their executives.
Facebook cofounder Chris Hughes has a new book out today where he joins Yang in calling for the implementation of UBI. Meanwhile his former employer is giving troves of personal data to Stanford researcher Raj Chetty, who will study the roles social divisions play in income inequality, Politico’s Nancy Scola reported.
Finally, as I reported yesterday, a tech think tank is calling for an overhaul of workforce training programs as artificial intelligence is poised to automate an array of tasks that workers perform today. But at the same time, the think tank — the Information Technology and Innovation Fund — came out against UBI, arguing that artificial intelligence won’t automate as many jobs as people fear.
What I feel is missing from these discussions is the hiring practices that may have contributed to income inequality. Certainly, automation threatens to disrupt the jobs of millions of Americans from Silicon Valley to the Heartland — as has been true with any new technology. But when nearly 3 in 4 new jobs go to the 40 percent most prosperous ZIP codes in the U.S. — and companies with huge market caps like Facebook are often the ones adding these jobs — it’s not enough to simply look at how training and UBI can aid communities that are receiving fewer and fewer jobs.
As always, please send me your thoughts via email. And be sure to sign up for one of the remaining tickets to VentureBeat’s inaugural BLUEPRINT event, taking place in two weeks in Reno, Nevada.
Thanks for reading,
Anna Hensel
Heartland Tech Reporter
Featured Video
Please enjoy this video from CNBC, “Facebook cofounder’s proposal to rethink inequality”
From the Heartland Tech Channel
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The Iowan Project wants to identify skilled tech workers who have left the state
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Beyond VB
Facebook’s next project: American inequality
A Stanford economist is using the company’s vast store of personal data to study why so many in the U.S. are stuck in place economically. (via Politico)
When you give Alaskans a universal basic income, they still keep working
A universal basic income (UBI) is at the heart of the debate about how society will organize itself after robots and algorithms do more and more of today’s work. Not everyone agrees how we do this. (via Quartz)
Facebook’s brewing legal battle with cities and states
Last week, Seattle became the first city to crack down on the secrecy surrounding online political ads. Experts say it likely won’t be the last. (via Governing)
Austin Blockchain Collective to Advocate for Local Crypto Startups
One of the top selling points for blockchain technologies is that it decentralizes whatever it is used for — cryptocurrencies, government records or health data. So, it might sound a little strange for a bunch of local blockchain-based startups to centralize their efforts. But that’s exactly what’s happening. (via Austin Inno)
