Ford School economist Betsey Stevenson made the case for an AI dividend on the podcast, "On with Kara Swisher."
Stevenson presented her idea that would allow consumers to receive dividends for engaging with companies that use our data. She stated, “I really think that government needs to stop and realize that our data is the thing we have. It is something that companies value. They want it and we should tax the use of data and give that money back to people."
Stevenson argued that this system would benefit nearly every American as our world becomes increasingly digitalized. "So, it's going to sound a lot like a universal basic income, but instead of being like a handout, now what I'm talking about is something that's based on, you're contributing your data into the system, and that you get a dividend from that. Another way to think about it is we could just, you know, nationalize some of our artificial intelligence and then pay, you know, a dividend on that. I think it's that the American public deserves a share of something that they have contributed to through their own data," asserted Stevenson.
