We stand at the dawn of abundance. Artificial intelligence is poised to reshape civilization, ushering us into a future previously imagined only as science fiction. Built on humanity’s collective knowledge and creativity, AI is now unlocking capabilities beyond what once seemed possible.

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AI’s capabilities come from all of us. Each of us has contributed in some way to the creation of technology that now emulates us, augments us, and displaces us.

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AI was trained on the labor of all; every word written, every image drawn, every song composed, every video published. It leans on discoveries we all funded, born from government research grants, public universities, and the collective achievements of generations past.

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Its promise is real: AI will multiply our capabilities, automate drudgery, and generate wealth at scales previously unimaginable. As machines approach the ability to produce almost anything with minimal human labor, we face an extraordinary opportunity to transform this productivity into universal human flourishing. But this outcome is not inevitable. Another path is ever more extreme inequality, and it’s the path we’re currently on.

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For fifty years, productivity has soared, yet wages have not. Most of the gains have gone to the top 1%, while the middle class has eroded. If AI is allowed to further widen the chasm between rich and poor, owners and workers, then its great promise becomes a grave threat.

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This threat is compounded by those building AI who see its economic impacts coming and fail to act accordingly. When the people creating the disruption won’t invest seriously in preparing for it, they send a clear message: it must not be that urgent. But it is urgent. And every month of inaction narrows the window to act.

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We reject this path. The bounty of AI must serve all because it was born from the labor of all. Its gains are for sharing, not hoarding. They are a dividend of civilization and a rightful inheritance. Justice demands they be common wealth.

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To ensure machines serve humanity, we must provide people directly with the purchasing power to obtain what machines create — and, just as importantly, the power to negotiate the terms of our own labor and the policies that govern our lives.

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When every person has enough to live unconditionally, the power to say no enters the economy for the first time. Workers gain real power. People trapped in abusive situations gain an exit. And the millions of parents, caregivers, volunteers, and community builders doing essential work without pay are finally recognized as the workers they have always been. An unconditional dividend does not just distribute money. It distributes freedom.

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Imagine a society where everyone has a financial foundation to build upon, where the entrepreneur in every community has the security to take risks, where artists can create without starving, where scientists can explore the unknown, where parents can invest time in their children, where workers can retrain without fear. This is the promise of shared AI prosperity.