Elizabeth Rhodes received his Ph.D. about a decade ago. A major in social work and political science at the University of Michigan, she met with a blog post by Openai CEO Sam Altman. Rhodes is not familiar with the startup incubator, but she is interested in Altman's proposal to explore the challenges and limitations of universal basic income (UBI), an experimental social welfare program advocated by some technology leaders that provides regular, unconditional cash payments to all citizens.
“I've never heard of the Y combinationist, and I'm a little embarrassed to say I don't even have a real Google Google,” Rhodes told Observer. “It wasn't until I was interviewed that I thought, 'Oh, it's more unusual than expected.'”
Even though he co-founded Openai, Altman is still keen to investigate how direct cash transfers from advances in AI offset the shift in the labor market, “I think it’s a good thing to start researching very early,” he wrote in a blog post. “I am very confident that at some point in the future, as technology continues to eliminate traditional work and a lot of new wealth, we will see some versions on a national scale.”
The resulting UBI research is led by OpenResearch, an Altman-backed nonprofit organization, which integrates academic in-start approach with the startup approach—a dynamic that makes some adjustments to Rhodes, the director of research at nonprofit organizations. “I absolutely have to learn a new style of communication because in academia, everything is exhaustive – you defended your choice 15 times,” she said. “Sam is like, tell me what your advice is.”
Rhodes has been immersed in this mixed world for some time. She initially pioneered a UBI pilot study for an open study that evolved into a comprehensive three-year study. Starting in 2020, the larger study provided $1,000 cash payments per month to 1,000 participants in Illinois and Texas, while the 2,000 control group received $50 per month. Altman provided $14 million in support for the project, and its initial discovery began to appear last year.
OpenResearch is still analyzing a wide range of data and collecting additional information to understand the long-term impact of the transfer. Preliminary results have shown that cash transfers have multiple effects. The beneficiaries of the UBI experiment show a tendency to target setting, prioritize essentials, engage in education or vocational training, relocate to new communities or use in health care services.
In addition, the target group worked 1.3 hours a week, but preferred to prioritize participation or meaningful employment. Rhodes cited an example of a recipient who transitioned from work in venously naturalism, with no chance of progress to a new role with a lower starting salary, but with significantly greater flexibility and growth potential.
However, the key point of this study is that cash alone is not always a complete solution. Rhodes said the concept of UBI “is part of a larger policy framework, but I think we have a lot of work to do to understand what the whole framework looks like.” She added: “We're going to give everyone a certain amount of money to the idea and think that it will solve some barriers or promote accountability across the board, which I think is a challenge.”
Going forward, Rhodes is interested in studying the different effects of different forms of cash allocation, for example, comparing monthly payments with a one-time payment. She also aims to conduct shorter projects to study how access to OpenAI AI models affects participants’ cognitive burden.
However, the project on the scale of the recent cash transfer research on OpenResearch is not in the near future. “This is a $60 million multi-year study and we are not ready to launch another,” the researcher said. However, according to Rhodes, nonprofits will prioritize fair distribution of benefits. “Our broader goal is how do we ensure more common prosperity in any form?”
