In one class of scenarios, you quickly get into a Malthusian state where the average income drops to subsistence level for these digital minds. That means that no human could survive by selling its wage labor in this simplest version of the model. And we would be in a situation like the horses there, maybe the average income we could earn would be less than subsistence, our population would diminish. But even if we have this gradual transition with many competing, we still have these potentially quite disturbing prospects.
Nick Bostrom of the University of Oxford talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about his book, Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies. Bostrom argues that when machines exist which dwarf human intelligence they will threaten human existence unless steps are taken now to reduce the risk. The conversation covers the likelihood of the worst scenarios, strategies that might be used to reduce the risk and the implications for labor markets, and human flourishing in a world of superintelligent machines.