The arguments

The reasons for an unconditional basic income are not one reason, and they do not all rest on the same prediction. That is useful: you can accept one and reject the others.

Work is changing

The artificial intelligence argument, stated correctly: not the number of jobs, but the speed of the transition, the entry-level tasks that are disappearing and the end of predictable careers. It is the most quoted argument and also the one that depends on a forecast — which makes it the most fragile.

The freedom to say no

The argument that depends on no technological prediction at all, and holds even if automation turns out to be far less disruptive than expected. A negotiation is free only if both parties can walk away. It covers bargaining power, unpaid care work, and why universal works better than targeted.

What the evidence shows

What the completed programmes actually show — Finland, Alaska, Kenya, Stockton — including the awkward parts and the limits nearly all of them share.

And the objections

The serious criticisms have a page of their own, with the answers available and an explicit note where those answers are weak.