Explore Topics:
AIBiotechnologyRoboticsComputingFutureScienceSpaceEnergyTech
Future

Ray Kurzweil: The Future Offers Meaningful Work, Not Meaningless Jobs

Andrew J. O'Keefe II
Aug 11, 2016

Share

In a future where automation has taken most human “jobs,” will humans stop working? It all depends on how you define work, says Ray Kurzweil. He favors the idea of a universal basic income to cover the necessities, but he doesn’t think that means we won’t work.

We’ll just do more of the things we’ve always wanted to but didn’t have time.

“We really need to rethink what is it that we should be doing with our lives. We have a certain economic model where people work, and then they get money, and then they can buy the things they need," Kurzweil says.

But what if we reversed that model, and provided enough income for everybody that grants the freedom to choose how we spend our time?

“If you’re going to work less you’re not just going to sit around. What are you going to do with extra time? Well, you'll do something that you enjoy. That you have a passion for. Why don’t we just call that work?”

Be Part of the Future

Sign up to receive top stories about groundbreaking technologies and visionary thinkers from SingularityHub.

100% Free. No Spam. Unsubscribe any time.

Once we no longer have to work to live—we can begin to live to work. And then we’ll be free to engage fully and unabashedly in passionate pursuits, regardless of income. Imagine the innovation and invention that might follow if our whole civilization pursued its highest aspirations instead of spending most of our time working for basic sustenance.


For years, Ray Kurzweil has been giving fireside chats at Singularity University. Now, some of his best questions and answers will be released every Thursday on Singularity University’s Ray K Q&A YouTube channel. Check back each week for the latest video.

Image credit: Trebz/FlickrCC

Andrew operates as a media producer and archivist. Generating backups of critical cultural data, he has worked across various industries — entertainment, art, and technology — telling emerging stories via recording and distribution.

Related Articles

Technology Has Shaped Human Knowledge for Centuries. Generative AI Is Set to Transform It Yet Again.

Technology Has Shaped Human Knowledge for Centuries. Generative AI Is Set to Transform It Yet Again.

Sarah Vivienne Bentley
What Google Translate Tells Us About Where AI Is Headed Next

What Google Translate Tells Us About Where AI Is Headed Next

Adam Lopez
Concept art of megastructures in space

DARPA Wants to ‘Grow’ Enormous Living Structures in Space

Shelly Fan
Technology Has Shaped Human Knowledge for Centuries. Generative AI Is Set to Transform It Yet Again.
Future

Technology Has Shaped Human Knowledge for Centuries. Generative AI Is Set to Transform It Yet Again.

Sarah Vivienne Bentley
What Google Translate Tells Us About Where AI Is Headed Next
Future

What Google Translate Tells Us About Where AI Is Headed Next

Adam Lopez
Concept art of megastructures in space
Future

DARPA Wants to ‘Grow’ Enormous Living Structures in Space

Shelly Fan

What we’re reading

Be Part of the Future

Sign up to receive top stories about groundbreaking technologies and visionary thinkers from SingularityHub.

100% Free. No Spam. Unsubscribe any time.

SingularityHub chronicles the technological frontier with coverage of the breakthroughs, players, and issues shaping the future.

Follow Us On Social

About

  • About Hub
  • About Singularity

Get in Touch

  • Contact Us
  • Pitch Us
  • Brand Partnerships

Legal

  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use
© 2025 Singularity