oberson
Should robots be taxed for stealing jobs?
It's not yet clear whether, with the rise of artificial intelligence, workforce automation will lead to an overall rise or drop in human job creation. That's the argument put forward by University of Geneva professor and tax lawyer Xavier Oberson. Oberson argues that as robots take over more and more jobs – particularly in the industry and service sectors – there will be a rise in unemployment and a corresponding drop in tax and social security receipts by governments all over the world. He believes that imposing a tax on work done by robots could help offset these losses. Logistically, he says this could be managed by creating a "legal entity" representing robots, just as is done today for corporations.