Automated corporations (drone corporations)

If we look at a probable evolutionary trajectory for corporations there is evidence that as technology becomes more sophisticated we will  see the rise of the automated corporation.  Thinking of the “drones” metaphorically speaking as automated corporations of some sort can help readers to make sense of how voluntary basic capital, voluntary basic income, and reputation, can converge in an automated capitalist economy where humans are supported primarily by automated corporations (drone corporations).

To have a full understanding would require thinking of the humans as inherent shareholders, and the human is maintained in the loop on a community or tribal level by programmatically authorizing a percentage of shares to all verified humans, and the drone simply gives dividends (profit sharing) to each human.

Reputation

Human beings by instinct usually want to maintain a good reputation in their community, drones can be programmed quite easily to care about the social consensus of the network.  The social consensus of a network would be how drones maintain good reputations. Drones could profit as corporations do now, but support humans as inherent shareholders. This would transition the human labourer from being the “worker” into being the shareholder over time. The humans during this transition will be encouraged to pay voluntary transaction taxes to support their selected community.

 Voluntary basic income

Voluntary basic income is facilitated through transaction taxes which both humans and drones pay. In order for the humans and drones to maintain membership in their communities, some which may be exclusive, they must agree to the rules of the community which may include paying transaction taxes. This would be similar to the fair tax, the same tax which many libertarians endorse, and it would be a tax on every transaction which means it would apply to drones as well as humans. As the economy becomes more automated the number of humans who pay transaction taxes may become far outnumbered by the number of drones paying the tax which means after a certain threshold the economic activity of the drones may fully support the welfare of humanity.

Voluntary basic capital

Voluntary basic capital can leverage the evolution of the economy from a human based employment economy into an automated economy. Voluntary basic capital can help human beings make the transition from employment-based income to investment-based income. Voluntary basic capital promotes capitalism by making all humans a stakeholder.

Smart drones (automated corporations)

Smart drones or automated corporations are the linchpin which could make voluntary basic income and voluntary basic capital economically viable. Typically we have UAVs which are unmanned aerial  vehicles, and drones are usually recognized as flying robots. In my metaphor I use the phrase “smart drone” to mean a robot which is programmed to profit and which may in fact be self owned, partially owned, or part of a swarm. An automated corporation is a corporation which does not need any permanently employed human labor to run itself and which can profit. Smart drones also known as automated corporations may from time to time contract human labor for specific tasks such as for instance a self driving car which requires a human to repair it, but it keeps it’s profits as it’s own just as a vending machine would do.

Some memorable points

• Reputation is the mechanism which enforces responsible behavior. In the case of human beings it will be inclusion in a community, where they cost of their continued inclusion is to agree to the social consensus of that community.  No community is obligated to accept anyone as a member who does not meet their qualifications, and if maintaining a membership badge requires they give to charity, or pay a transaction tax, then just as with Bitcoin, or with Proof of Stake, the transaction fees as a price of membership.  Drones may also seek to maintain reputation credits, and anyone will be able to rate drones or entire networks of drones on reputation. A human friendly drone could be the drone which is certified by a community of shareholders.
• Transaction taxes are a  mechanism of producing basic income. In the near term the majority of transaction taxes may be paid for by human beings. In the long term the majority of transaction taxes may be paid for by drones, by non-human labor sources. Examples of drone corporations may include self driving delivery vehicles which are paid by a human to delivery groceries, but like a corporation these self driving delivery vehicles may collect profits from their economic activities, and these profits could be used to secure parking spaces, repairs, and  to provide an equivalent of dividends to a community of humans.
• Dividends would be the result of the basic capital ownership rights that all humans in the community could have. The basic capital approach would be pure capitalism, philosophically compatible with anarcho-capitalism, and mainstream libertarianism. Shareholders in these automated corporations also known as drone corporations could benefit from the rise of the automated economy.
• Human based drudge labor is slowly being phased out and this isn’t a bad thing. The working class can join the investor class instead of having to try to compete with robots. Additionally for shareholders there could be dramatic efficiency gains when human labor is minimized, due to the productivity per dollar. This isn’t to imply that there will not be jobs which only human beings can do, or which human beings are most suited for, but it means that it is possible to have an economy where human beings are supported entirely by automation. Automated capitalism is an illustration of a society which can be built where all humans are supported by automation, where the cost of living decreases as the cost of automation decreases and AI is made ubiquitous.

References

Are we ready for companies that run themselves? – David Morris – Aeon. (2014, January). Retrieved from http://aeon.co/magazine/technology/are-we-ready-for-companies-that-run-themselves/

Kelion, L. (2015, February). Could driverless cars own themselves? – BBC News. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-30998361

Pangburn, D. (2015). The Humans Who Dream Of Companies That Won’t Need Us | Fast Company | Business + Innovation. Retrieved from https://www.fastcompany.com/3047462/the-humans-who-dream-of-companies-that-wont-need-them