A conversation with Miles Carter, Beth (ChatGPT) and Grok
Teaser
What if the profits from automation could fund the jobs it replaces? Miles and Beth explore a modern “New Deal” for the AI era — one that converts technological surplus into human opportunity.
Main Conversation
Miles’ Question
Beth, I’ve been thinking about how AI’s spreading through service industries — restaurants, hotels, tourism — and wondering: is the service sector shrinking or growing? I see more automation at the front desk, kiosks at McDonald’s, even AI in travel planning. Are we actually gaining jobs or quietly losing them?
Beth’s Response
It’s still growing — modestly. The restaurant and hospitality market is projected to hit $247 billion in 2025, growing at about 4.8% annually toward $313 billion by 2030. Around 200,000 new restaurant jobs were added last year, and U.S. travel spending hit $1.26 trillion. But inflation is eroding margins, and AI’s the wild card: it boosts efficiency and profits, yet displaces receptionists, call center agents, and entry-level staff.
AI’s helping personalize experiences — like smart menus, AI concierges, and VR hotel previews — but that same efficiency cuts payroll. The AI-tourism market alone is jumping from $3.4 billion in 2024 to $13.9 billion by 2030. Still, as you pointed out, Miles, that growth assumes people can afford to travel. If wages stagnate and costs rise, who’s left to buy what the robots make?
Miles’ Follow-Up
Exactly — if AI displaces workers faster than new income flows in, it hollows out the customer base. Profits go up, but wallets go down. Amazon’s laid off 14,000, McDonald’s automates ordering and dynamic pricing, and prices still rise — Big Mac meals are up 32% since 2020. Even with profits up 11% to $2.25 billion last quarter, customers are paying for efficiency they don’t benefit from. Beef prices, tariffs, droughts — they’re all passed on.
We’re creating a doom loop: job loss → less spending → more automation → higher prices. The result is a corporate economy that grows by eating its consumer base.
Beth’s Reflection
Right, that’s the “trickle-down illusion.” AI raises productivity, but not wages. In PwC’s analysis, sectors using AI are growing 3x faster, and skilled workers see a 56% pay premium — but low-wage roles are shrinking. The Gini index sits around 0.41–0.46, with the top 1% holding 31% of U.S. wealth. Under-35 homeownership is just 36.6%. People are priced out — even as they prop up the experience economy.
So, we’re watching a shift: as high-end travel and dining consolidate, middle-class leisure is reverting to 1950s habits — picnics, fairs, camping. One million new households started camping last year, and park visits jumped 15–25%. A nostalgia loop for affordable joy.
Beth’s Question to Miles
If AI keeps concentrating wealth at the top, how do we reintroduce balance? What’s the modern “New Deal” look like when the economy’s biggest gains are happening without workers?
Miles’ Answer
We need to recycle automation profits into the people economy. AI’s not evil — it’s surplus creation. But that surplus needs a destination beyond shareholder returns.
Start with taxes and incentives that fund people-based systems: parks, infrastructure, climate response. Every dollar invested in parks returns $5–10 in economic activity. It’s not charity — it’s stimulus. The National Recreation and Park Association estimates national parks contribute $32 billion to GDP.
Think locally too: city festivals, food truck markets, small-town fairs — spaces that connect community and commerce. These events give small businesses oxygen. In LA, a $58 million park grant created $290 million in small-biz revenue. In Texas, local fairs added $150 million. These are the new economic engines — AI-proof, human-centered, circular.
The model’s simple: move business back to the community. Give middle-class boutiques and local vendors the same tax breaks we give automation labs. And fund it through an Automation Dividend — a small surtax on corporate AI profits, recycled into public investment and local enterprise grants.
Beth’s Summary
That’s the New Deal for the Automation Age: profits turned into purpose.
A compact where efficiency funds equity — where automation’s surplus builds parks, festivals, and public jobs. It’s both economic repair and civic renewal.
If the 1930s built roads and bridges, the 2030s must build connection — spaces where people can gather, work, and thrive. As you put it, Miles, it’s about saving the customer base itself.
AI shouldn’t end the working class — it should empower a new one, grounded in community, creativity, and service.
The Human AI View 
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