A World Without Work.
We are on the brink of the greatest economic shift since the Industrial Revolution. Artificial Intelligence and robotics are no longer just doing physical labour; they are writing code, diagnosing diseases, and creating art. If an algorithm can do your job better and cheaper than you can, how will you survive? In this unit, we explore the vocabulary of mass automation and the radical solution of Universal Basic Income.
- Automation (noun): The use of largely automatic equipment, robotics, or software in a system of manufacturing or other production processes.
- Universal Basic Income / UBI (noun): A governmental public programme for a periodic payment delivered to all citizens of a given population without a means test or work requirement.
- Obsolete (adj): No longer produced or used; out of date, especially because something newer and better has replaced it.
1. Raw Vocabulary: The Algorithmic Shift
Practice: drag a word, or select it and choose a gap.
1. The accounting firm fired 300 employees because a new could process the taxes in seconds.
2. Due to the rise of autonomous vehicles, truck driving as a profession will soon become completely .
3. Without a radical of wealth, the gap between the billionaires who own the AI and the unemployed masses will cause a revolution.
4. Proponents believe UBI will create a where humans are finally free to pursue art and leisure instead of labour.
5. Critics warn that a society where the government controls everyone's income will quickly turn into an authoritarian .
6. $1000 a month isn't enough to thrive; it barely provides a basic level of .
Choose a word, then choose a gap.
2. Idioms and Expressions
When discussing financial survival, inevitability, and the modern workforce, these idioms are essential.
- "The writing is on the wall." There are clear signs that something bad or a major change is going to happen soon.
- "To make ends meet." To earn just enough money to pay for basic living expenses (food, rent).
- "A cog in the machine." One part of a large system or organisation; feeling insignificant and easily replaceable.
- "To tighten one's belt." To spend much less money than you used to because of financial difficulties.
3. Reading: The UBI Experiment
Read about the debate over a radical economic solution.
For twenty years, John drove a delivery truck. But when the company purchased an automated fleet, his skills became obsolete. He was made redundant. "I was just a cog in the machine," John said, struggling to make ends meet. For many middle-class workers, the writing is on the wall: the algorithms are coming for everyone.
Economists warn that by 2040, we will have lost over 40% of traditional jobs. To prevent a societal dystopia, politicians are proposing a Universal Basic Income (UBI). By heavily taxing the corporations that own the robots, the state would guarantee every citizen a monthly subsistence check.
Opponents argue this massive redistribution of wealth will destroy human ambition. If the government pays people not to work, society will stagnate. However, supporters argue that by the time UBI is passed, AI will have been generating infinite wealth for years, finally allowing humans to escape the daily grind and experience a creative utopia.
4. Grammar Focus: Future Perfect & Future Perfect Continuous
When you want to predict the state of the world by a specific deadline in the future (e.g., "By the year 2050..."), you cannot use the simple future. You must use the Future Perfect (to describe a finished action) or the Future Perfect Continuous (to describe an ongoing duration).
| Tense | Structure | Debate Example |
|---|---|---|
| Future Perfect (Completed before a future time) |
By [Time], Subject + will have + V3 | "By 2040, AI will have replaced millions of jobs." (The replacing will be 100% finished by that year.) |
| Future Perfect Continuous (Duration up to a future time) |
By [Time], Subject + will have been + V-ing | "By 2040, we will have been fighting this crisis for a decade." (The fighting started in the past and continues right up to 2040.) |
Exercise A: Choose the Correct Future Form
1. By the time I retire, I ____________ taxes into a system that might not even exist anymore.
2. Scientists predict that by the end of the century, automation ____________ entirely eliminated physical labour.
Exercise B: Complete the Expressions
Type the missing words to complete these conversational idioms.
1. With the cost of rent rising and salaries dropping, many families are struggling just to make meet.
2. The factory is replacing everyone with robots; you need to start looking for a new career because the writing is on the .
5. The Hot Seat: Debate Practice 🎙️
- If Universal Basic Income provides everyone with enough money for subsistence, will human beings lose their ambition, or will it unleash a wave of creativity?
- When physical and mental labour both become redundant because of algorithms, what will give human life meaning?
- Use Future Perfect: "By the year 2050, Artificial Intelligence will have..." (Make a bold prediction).
- Use Future Perfect Continuous: "If we don't change the economy now, by 2040 the billionaires will have been..." (Complete the sentence).
- Is a massive redistribution of wealth the only way to prevent a violent dystopia as jobs become obsolete?