Russell Brand reacts after Bill Gates talks about introducing AI taxes, claims Microsoft founder is doing "stand-up about robot unions"

Russell Brand has shared his thoughts on Bill Gates' idea about introducing taxes on AI (Artificial Intelligence) or robotic workers. He believes such taxes would ensure government revenue, allowing it to be used for the citizens' benefit.

Bill Gates appeared in an episode of The Ezra Klein Show with The New York Times, released on September 29. He spoke extensively about AI replacing humans across various sectors. He suggested that there should be taxes for work, and that companies should pay them regardless of whether they hire a human or use AI for it.

He said:

"If you've let go of a worker and hire a robot to do that job, why are you so incentivizing the trade-off against the human labour that you don't ask the robot to also pay into the pension fund? You know, is it the pro-robot union that got the tax law?"

Russell Brand reacted to this on his show on Sunday, October 4, saying:

"I'm not gonna sit here and listen to Bill Gates do stand-up about robot unions. I ain't got time to watch any more billionaires tell us how they're gonna help us. I just don't want to hear it anymore."

Gates, meanwhile, further said:

"Just because the economic signals say that it'd be lower cost to use an AI doesn't mean society has to do that."

The Microsoft founder mainly spoke about FICA taxes. In this, companies match the contributions of their workers towards the likes of Social Security and Medicare. Gates believes that companies should pay taxes towards these benefits even if they use robots or AI in place of humans.

Also Read: What is Phoebe Gates’s net worth? Bill Gates’ daughter sparks controversy over alleged $250 haggling scheme

Russell Brand further opens up about decentralisation after Bill Gates floats the idea of taxing AI

Further dismissing Bill Gates' views, Russell Brand spoke about how AI can be used to decentralise control in the world. He said that he cannot listen to billionaires make such speeches anymore and explained:

"This is what I want to tell you is that it is possible, using this technology, to have self-governing communities; even the word governing is no longer relevant, because governing means control."

"What you could have is decentralised communities, where you democratically determine how to use your resources in order to run your community. That's how you were designed to live," he added.

He believes that AI can be used to give people freedom instead of building more restrictive technologies. Russell Brand added:

"Centralisation makes sense if you want mass agriculture, or mass industry, or mass control. At this point in our history, the very same AI, that they're saying can be used to give us digital ID, facial recognition technology, could be reversed in charge in order to give us absolute freedom, and freedom in the final analysis means nothing other than allow the god in you to be."

Meanwhile, Bill Gates has suggested that AI is also expected to take blue-collar jobs. He said that the technology has already affected many office jobs across the world and will soon come for the blue-collar jobs.

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Also Read: When was Russell Brand accused of sexual assault? Case revisited as actors admit to sleeping with 16-year-old as an adult

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