![Guaranteed income? 14th grade? Before AI, tech fears drove bold ideas. Guaranteed income? 14th grade? Before AI, tech fears drove bold ideas.](https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-apps/imrs.php?src=https://arc-anglerfish-washpost-prod-washpost.s3.amazonaws.com/public/AHKZDJ6B65CQBFFMZWP4XFKCZE.jpg&w=1440)
Guaranteed income? 14th grade? Before AI, tech fears drove bold ideas.
Comment on this storyComment Add to your saved stories Save Three-quarters of a century before our collective angst over the exponential growth of artificial intelligence, rapid advances in another form of new technology took the country by surprise and prompted panic about mass unemployment — and calls for policymakers to do something about it. Automation…