Viewing Human Society as a Game

In version 1.0 of this game, humans show up naked, and all goods fall into the category that must be bought with money.

By the time the game upgrades to version 2.0, each person comes with default equipment. Your first nine years of education are free; tuition only kicks in after middle school.

Then, as AI robots become widely adopted in the future—entering era 3.0—you'll see more and more things drop out of the monetary pricing system. Logo-free clothes and basic assembly-line bento boxes, for example, won't cost a dime: present your ID, pick up one outfit a month, and collect three meals a day. In non-prime locations, apartments under a certain square footage will be rent-free too. In other words, goods that AI robots can supply in unlimited quantities will simply exit the marketplace of money-priced exchanges.

The scenarios where you still have to pay money will be primarily about human services.

Back in ancient times, you could pawn even an old pair of clothes. Today, nobody wants to take them off your hands. Try getting rid of old furniture or appliances in developed countries, and you'll end up paying extra for junk removal.

In other words, you only pay when there's a real person serving you. So why do we need real humans? Because of the experience. Sure, you could cook at home, but why go to a high-end restaurant—or drop thousands per head at a Michelin-starred place? You're after the atmosphere. You're after the feeling. Otherwise, what's the point of living a whole life without ever truly experiencing anything?

Welcome to future society, era 3.0. Money buys human services: you serve me, you earn my money; I serve you, I earn yours. In this phase of the game, whether you can make money comes down to whether you can deliver experiences—whether you can bring joy to others. If you just hang out and accomplish nothing, you're worthless. But if you lead others around and make it fun, you have value.

In the future, you'll likely see countless examples of this: every game will have someone guiding you through it; every travel destination will offer guided experiences within its activities. Sales in the future will be service-based—colloquially called "guiding you through the fun."

When most production is handled by AI robots, you can think of everyone's livelihood strategy as having shifted. We're all essentially running our own game companies. You are the game company, and the game company is you. How do you make money? By leading others through experiences. Others do the same for you, and you pay each other with "game coins" — the currency exchanged for guided play.

In an era of resource abundance, unsold goods are inventory. Only resources transformed into experiences count as true wealth.