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Ever wondered how to make it big when your smartwatch is smarter than you? I ran a thought experiment: $5 → $1 trillion in a world where AI has rendered human intelligence obsolete. First, have your AI agent turn $5 into $50K through microtasks and market inefficiencies. Next, lease a humanoid robot ($900/month) to craft "artisanal" luxury goods with 500% markups. Scale to robot-run bakeries and bars—because even in a post-labor utopia, people still need somewhere to hang out.
Once you've built a retail empire, pivot to energy. Start with solar farms, then data centers (the factories of the future), and eventually fusion reactors. By now you're worth billions, so naturally, the next step is space. Launch mining operations to harvest asteroid metals and lunar helium-3. Congratulations! You've created a self-perpetuating industrial complex spanning the solar system.
The fascinating part? Even with universal AI access, most people won't do this. They'll lack the vision, persistence, or willingness to navigate regulatory red tape. The post-labor economy won't eliminate wealth inequality—it'll transform it. While 99.99% enjoy their UBI-supported lives, the 0.01% who think big become interstellar trillionaires. Just a thought experiment, of course... but who's to say it couldn't happen?
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