The Systemic Risk of Unemployment in the Age of Artificial Intelligence: From Productivity Growth to Income and Human Security

This article examines the systemic socioeconomic risks that may emerge from the widespread adoption of artificial intelligence, focusing on the relationship between productivity growth, employment, labor income, capital concentration, accessibility, and human security. The analysis does not treat technological progress or artificial intelligence as inherently harmful, nor does it argue for restricting technological development. Instead, it examines how productivity gains generated by AI may interact with existing economic structures and potentially weaken the role of labor income as a primary mechanism through which people access the benefits of economic production. The article develops a human-centered analytical perspective in which the central question is not whether AI increases productivity, but how the benefits of that productivity are distributed and translated into human access, income security, and living conditions. The study is part of the broader Humanity-Centered Civilization Theory research program developed by Güneş Başar Tamer. It extends previous work on civilization capital, capital concentration, property, and human-centered institutional design by applying these concepts to the socioeconomic transformation associated with artificial intelligence. The central analytical chain examined in this work is: AI → Productivity Growth → Labor-Income Pressure → Capital Concentration → Accessibility and Distribution → Human Security The article therefore approaches AI-related unemployment risk as a systemic economic and social problem rather than as a purely technological problem. It explores institutional mechanisms through which societies may preserve human security and meaningful participation in economic life while continuing to benefit from technological progress.