How AI wealth could be distributed to all Americans

Ah, the great AI wealth distribution debate has arrived — because nothing says 'solving inequality' like a set of proposals so naive they'd make a Victorian philanthropist blush. Bernie Sanders, bless his consistency, wants the public to own half of AI gains. Half! The other bright ideas include paying individuals for their data — essentially a digital pittance for the surveillance economy — and 'new forms of unions' that will presumably negotiate over how many hours a week we get to be replaced by algorithms.

Let's unpack the data-payment scheme, shall we? The implicit promise is that Meta, Google, and the rest will suddenly start cutting cheques for the reams of personal information they've already vacuumed up for free. How generous. It's like a burglar offering to pay you for the items he stole last week — provided you agree to let him keep the ones he nicked this morning. And unions for the AI era? Sure, because nothing says 'worker empowerment' like bargaining with a system that doesn't need you and a management that can point to a glowing chatbot as your replacement.

As for Sanders' public ownership gambit — it's a lovely thought, but it requires a level of political will that last showed itself sometime around the New Deal. More likely, we'll get a watered-down 'data dividend' that pays you 37 cents a month while the companies pocket billions. The proposals are a sign that someone, somewhere is thinking about distribution, but they're also a reminder that the people who own the AI are the same people who own the lobbyists. Cheers to fighting the last war with the wrong weapons.