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Moonshots · 2 min · Jun 3, 2026

Kurzweil expects a broader safety net after the singularity

Ray Kurzweil compares today's support programs with the lack of help for people who lost jobs a century ago. He expects people without income to remain comfortable and find new ways to earn.

RK

Ray Kurzweil

Ray Kurzweil is an inventor and futurist.

  • Peter Diamandis, Host · Founder, XPRIZE

    Co-founded Singularity University and founded Zero-G; co-wrote the books Abundance and Bold.

  • Salim Ismail, Host · Founder, Open ExO

    Co-wrote Exponential Organizations; was Singularity University's founding executive director; sold Ångströ to Google.

About this segment

Ray Kurzweil compares today's support programs with the lack of help for people who lost jobs a century ago. He expects people without income to remain comfortable and find new ways to earn.

From “Ray Kurzweil on Why We’re Living in the Singularity | EP #261”, Jun 3, 2026. Watch the full episode

Answers “What will AI look like in the next few years?” See all 74 answers

“So I think we'll get to a place where people are fairly comfortable if you don't have any kind of economic resources.”
RKRay Kurzweilat 37:00 · Moonshots37:00

Takeaways

  1. He contrasts current support programs with the past.
  2. He expects people without income to have more economic security.
  3. He points to social media influencing as a newer way to earn.

In this episode

Full episode
  1. 11:56Exponential compute growth put AGI on a predictable timeline6:07
  2. 23:16AI's exponential pace is outstripping education and planning4:13
  3. 55:17AI is already shaping decisions and may soon blend into them7:32
  4. 7:30Kurzweil says robotics and physical reasoning still block AGI2:31
  5. 32:56Larry Page bought Kurzweil's startup before it had built anything2:46
  6. 39:28AI rights could start with limited economic personhood4:32

  7. 35:21Kurzweil expects a broader safety net after the singularity2:28

  8. 1:07:18Local communities could use technology to become self-sufficient2:50Up next

Transcript

Transcribed by machine (Whisper) from the episode’s audio, so a word may be off here and there.

  1. 35:34

    Alex? Speaking of value, Ray, I'm curious. And if you want to go to the microphones, we'll be going to your questions shortly. There's a lot of hand-wringing whenever the moonshot mates and I talk about what economics look like up to, through, and after the singularity. A lot of people who profess to be concerned about the future of employment, the future of personal economics. I'm curious, what would you say is your most outlandish take regarding post-singularity, what economics look like?

  2. 36:08

    Is it a Star Trek-type economics future? What does personal economics or corporate economics even look like after the singularity? Yes, great question. Well, I mean, you can see a huge difference between economics today and 100 years ago. there was no government help. So if you lost a job, there was like nothing that would replace that. You had absolutely no money. So you were completely without economic resources.

  3. 36:46

    SOL. Now, people today would still like economic resources, but there is government programs to help you. And people are not left without any kind of economic resources. But it's still not enough. So I think we'll get to a place where people are fairly comfortable if you don't have any kind of economic resources. And then you can think about ways in which you can create economic resources that are completely different than...

  4. 37:30

    existed in the past, so you can be a social network influencer or something, which didn't exist 10 years ago.