Federal Digital Minister Karsten Wildberger (CDU) continues to consider the concept of a basic income as a potential response to changes in the job market driven by artificial intelligence. However, he stated that he will no longer use the specific term “unconditional basic income,” noting in the “Tagesspiegel” (Tuesday edition) that while he will drop the phrase, he plans to carefully examine the concept behind it.
He described the existing term as being “pre-loaded.” Wildberger emphasized that AI is so powerful that future economic growth will essentially only be generated by AI. Crucially, this growth will not translate into jobs in the way people currently understand them. Although more employment may be generated in the long term, these will be in different kinds of jobs. Currently, businesses expanding through AI are, in fact, creating more jobs; however, the Digital Minister cautioned that he is “not putting his hand in the fire” to claim that this positive trend will remain constant.
His proposal is to finance the necessary retraining and labor market restructuring through both economic growth and new taxes levied on AI businesses. The CDU politician explained, “We must tax the extremely high turnover generated by this technology, and we can finance the restructuring with that money; that is my approach.” He also referenced CDU leader Friedrich Merz, confirming that restructuring requires financial resources, which in turn depends on growth.
Wildberger had previously stated in March that a basic income could be part of the solution to the upheavals in the labor market caused by AI.
