Well, the ultra rich trust fund kids who basically dont have to think about money or achieving anything seem to be doing fine, so Im not worried about a life without work.

OP I really appreciate your post, and I'm sorry that most of the responses are shitty and pessimistic as fuck. Hopefully I never meet any of these hopeless Eeyore's who have apparently never been inspired to think deeper about why we are alive than just eating, shitting, sleeping, and fucking. So anyways fuck these other people and thanks again for thinking the way you do, because I think the same way.

Artificial intelligence poses the greatest existential dilemma that Humanity has ever faced. Every other obstacle in our past has paled in comparison. In fact, it goes against one of the very most central values in the American culture, the "American Dream". The belief that every human is deserving of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. And that through hard work, every person should be able to have a good life.

Assuming that AGI is indeed going to happen, it will render large swaths of society useless in the workforce. Humans are meant to work, and to think, and to create, and to build. That is how we evolved and I honestly believe in some ways that it was our destiny to bring about the singularity. In fact I think that from some perspectives, human society is a major part of the singularity. We are the ones that are causing the exponential technological progress - artificial intelligence will only continue the progression forward.

But anyways, once we are all rendered "useless" in comparison to the godlike capabilities of AI, we are going to have to take a good hard look at ourselves. Most people throughout history have been inspired because they want to be the best, they want to leave a mark on the world, they want to be a leader in their village, they want to be remembered. That is what motivates us and when we were kids it is what we dreamed about, told stories about, and sung songs about.

Personally, I think that each of us should do our absolute best to put as much good out into the world as we can. Once the singularity comes, all of these other commenters are going to be sadly disappointed. Because a singularity is not something that we live beyond. So our purpose is to do whatever we feel is right in our life to positively influence the world around us. Although most of us won't have any hand in actually creating the AGI, we can do our best to "keep the lights on" so that other people can do the work the humanity was destined to accomplish. Sanitary workers can keep the streets clean, electricians can keep the lights on, politicians can do their best to keep improving our societies, and teachers can keep doing their best to train the next (and probably last) generation of humans.

This might sounds fairly depressing, but think of this: What are the odds that you are alive to be reading this sentence right now? Out of all of the 28 decillion + organisms alive on Earth right now, you get to experience life as the most intelligent species there is. Out of all of the 3.7 billion years of life on earth and 200,000 years of human existence, you just happen to live right now at the pinnacle of humanity, right when we are approaching the singularity. Out of all of the people who have ever lived, I will bet that in comparison, most of you live very privileged lives as we experience this incredible time period, when we have the full wealth of human knowledge at our fingertips with your smartphone. The odds of all of these questions are near-infinitesimally small.

And knowing all of this, I just don't understand how these other commenters can be so damn petty and small-minded and act like we are basically just dust in the wind. We are not dust. We are the greatest creatures who have ever walked the earth and we are destined to bring about the singularity. And those of us who continue to dream big are the ones who truly embody what it means to be a human. To you other commenters: have some respect for the fucking privilege you've been given to experience this life as a human, and maybe, just maybe, try not to be such assholes.

> there is no positive difference left to make.

I think this is the core of where your problem lies, in holding the belief that the key to a meaningful, fulfilling existence is by contributing to works. And by making a "difference".

We make our own meaning, most of us find meaning in our lives while doing tasks that millions of other people could do just as well, or by finding personal fulfillment in hobbies or passions that don't provide a practical benefit to anyone other than a personal sense of joy and self-expression.

There isn't any amount of skill an AI could hold that could take that away from us. Would AI farmers take away the joy of cultivating my own garden? Or of in painting the perfect image of a sunset just as it feels in my own mind? Do I feel less fulfilled having climbed a mountain when a helicopter could get there in a fraction of the time? Could an AI prevent me from finding fulfillment in time spent with friends and family? Did potters give up their passion when manufacturing started producing high quality pots and bowls by the millions? Did piano players stop learning when you could program realistic sounds in MIDI? We could go on of course...

Our ability to find fulfillment in our lives isn't tied to any intrinsic need to complete practical tasks that only we can do. It comes entirely from within and each other and is something that is discovered by living in a way that fulfills our sense of self.

Trust me when I say that that isn't going anywhere.

In a world where AI replaced almost all practical tasks, there would certainly be individuals who feel crestfallen when the career or passion they pursued is no longer needed in the practical sense. But that drive was developed by living in a world where people were still needed to do those things, not because it was the only path to a fulfilling existence.

For the sake of argument, I will agree with the premise that we have a drive to make a difference.

However, my point still stands. Every individual will make the determination of what a "positive difference" means. It could be picking up trash in a local forest. It could be raising your kids well. It could be teaching everyone that the true meaning of the [name of religious text] is that we should kill the [insert enemy]."

I think the hard wiring is to preserve your genetics. The next most common drive is to preserve memetics.

There is still no objective measure of "genetic preservation". You can have children. You can protect your brothers children in an act of altruism [save them from a fire that kills you]. You can try to preserve "your race." People think of all kinds of wacky things...