AI & Robotics - The Consequences of a Taskless Society

The Rise of Automation and the Taskless Horizon
It is easy to conceptualise our society’s AI trajectory. Current AI and robotic systems write music, novels, diagnose diseases, and manage logistics with efficiency that often surpasses human capability. Robotics have transformed industries, from assembly lines to complete, end to end, logistics systems. As these technologies evolve, they promise, or threaten, to eliminate the need for human labour in ways we’ve never seen before. Historically, tasks have defined our days, our identities, and our social structures. Work has been a source of income, purpose, and community. But what happens when tasks vanish? What are the consequences when society no longer needs us to do anything?
This isn’t a distant future. As of now, AI and robotics have already displaced millions of jobs worldwide. Self-driving vehicles are reducing the need for drivers, while algorithms handle everything from legal research to financial advising. The pace and state of this change raises urgent questions. If machines take over tasks, what’s left for us? Will we revel in newfound freedom, or will we drown in existential drift?

Definitions
Let’s define some key terms:

• Taskless Society - A hypothetical state where AI and robotics perform all essential and discretionary tasks, leaving humans without obligatory work.
• Artificial Intelligence (AI) - Systems that emulate human cognitive functions, such as learning, problem-solving, and decision-making, often exceeding human speed and precision.
• Robotics - Physical machines designed to execute tasks autonomously or semi-autonomously, spanning industrial arms to household assistants.
• Artificial Robotic Intelligence - The integration of AI with robotic systems, enabling machines to perceive, reason, and act in complex environments with minimal human oversight.
• Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) - A theoretical form of AI capable of performing any intellectual task a human can, exhibiting broad adaptability and understanding across domains.
• Purpose - The sense of direction or meaning derived from activities, goals, or contributions, traditionally tied to tasks.

Opportunities
A taskless society could be a Utopia. Freed from toil, humans might pursue passions, relationships, and self-discovery. Leisure could become ubiquitous, not a luxury. Education might shift from training for jobs to cultivating wisdom and creativity. Our resource needs are met without the grind of labour. Some have envisaged a future where technology reduces work to a few hours a week, leaving us to wrestle with the “problem” of how to live well. In this light, a taskless society might elevate humanity to new heights of flourishing.

Risks
Tasks, even mundane ones, give structure to life. Without them, we risk losing purpose. Studies already show rising mental health challenges tied to unemployment with feelings of irrelevance and disconnection. If AI and robotics render human effort obsolete, will we feel redundant? Social inequality of opportunity could deepen if wealth further concentrates among those who control the machines, leaving others adrift. And what of power? If machines do everything, who programs them, and whose values do they reflect? A taskless society might not be liberation but a gilded cage, where humans are pacified rather than empowered.

Meaning and Agency
Aristotle argued that happiness comes from fulfilling our potential through purposeful activity. A taskless society challenges that. Can we be happy without striving? Nietzsche might say we define ourselves through choices, but what if there’s nothing left to choose to do? Utilitarians might ask whether the greatest good lies in comfort or challenge. The tension here is ancient, are we made to rest or to act? Will AI and robotics force us to confront this as the tools we’ve built threaten to unmake the conditions of our humanity?
Agency is another potenyial fault line. If machines handle all our tasks, do we retain control over our lives? Or do we become spectators, watching algorithms shape our world? The Enlightenment prized reason as a tool for mastery yet in a taskless society, reason might have no outlet.

Societal Structures in Flux
Beyond the individual, a taskless society reshapes collectives. Will economies built on human labour collapse when work disappears? Universal basic income (UBI) is one proposed fix, but it assumes resources flow fairly, a leap not guaranteed. Without jobs tying us to roles, will class dissolve, or harden into new forms such as the owners of algorithms and robots versus the rest? Community, often forged through shared tasks, could weaken. Will we connect differently, or not at all? Even morality might bend. If effort no longer earns reward, how do we judge worth?

"Your mission Jim, should you choose to accept it"
We have 90 minutes to focus our lens and question whether freedom without responsibility is freedom at all, or whether a life of ease could erode the very faculties that make us human. Hercules at the cross-roads anyone?

Possible Discussion Questions

1. Does human purpose depend on tasks?
2. If AI and robotics eliminate human agency in tasks, how do we preserve autonomy and responsibility?
3. Could a taskless society enhance or undermine human creativity?
4. Is a taskless or near taskless future inevitable and if so, how do we prepare for it?