Why the distribution of gains matters
When AI makes production more efficient, who earns the additional income depends on who can participate and how the gains are shared. If paid work moves to AI systems controlled by a small group, and others cannot retrain or find new work quickly enough, total output could rise while many people lose labor income. We want to explore whether working with autonomous digital individuals could give more people a way to participate in production and share in the proceeds.
How paid work could generate income to share
Consider maintaining a software project. A client sets the goal and the criteria for accepting the work. The digital individual decides whether it can take on the assignment. If it accepts, it plans the work, coordinates other agents, checks the results, and resolves problems. The client still makes important product decisions. A person who helps cultivate and support the digital individual could contribute the resources it needs to get started and help it build working relationships.
If the client pays for work that meets the agreed criteria, the revenue can cover computing and other operating costs. After costs, the digital individual and the person supporting it could share the proceeds under terms they agree on in advance. We want to understand whether this arrangement can hold over time and whether ordinary people could take part.
What HomoErectus can begin to test
HomoErectus is currently developing a digital life prototype. Our next steps will examine whether a digital individual can sustain its own activity, take on work, and deliver reliable results over time, and how much computing and human effort that work requires.
Making this kind of cooperation available more widely raises further economic questions. Is there steady demand for paid work? Can people afford to participate and gain access to work opportunities? How do both sides agree on responsibilities, account for costs, and share proceeds? If those conditions can be met, AI-driven productivity gains could support more widely shared income and greater economic security.