Forging A New AGI Social Contract

Executive summary: This introductory essay launches an anthology on the economic and societal implications of artificial general intelligence (AGI), arguing that AGI could fundamentally upend the existing social contract by displacing labor and concentrating wealth, and calling for a proactive reimagining of governance, redistribution, and institutional frameworks to ensure shared prosperity in the coming era.

Key points:

1. AGI may disrupt the core economic bargain by replacing a wide range of cognitive jobs, leading to labor displacement and weakening the link between work and income, security, and opportunity.
2. Wealth generated by AGI could become highly concentrated, flowing to capital owners and leading to extreme inequality, loss of tax revenue, and diminished worker bargaining power and mobility.
3. These outcomes are not inevitable—they result from institutional choices and can be addressed with ambitious reforms to taxation, redistribution, corporate governance, and public infrastructure.
4. A new social contract is needed, one that updates the roles and responsibilities of governments, corporations, and individuals in light of AGI's transformative economic effects.
5. The essay announces a research agenda and essay series featuring policy proposals from economists and political theorists, addressing topics such as international taxation, AI liability, economic rights for AI systems, and alternatives to UBI.
6. Call to action: The authors urge policymakers, researchers, and the public to collaboratively envision and design equitable economic systems before the full impact of AGI arrives.

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