First, there were pure knowledge workers even back in Old Testament times: We are not ALL supposed to be pure knowledge workers.
Next, Genesis: "By the sweat of your brow will you earn your bread." Physical work is not going anywhere. It has value, it is ennobling, it helps us in a lot of ways other than piling up piles of widgets.
Next: Each AI advance merely opens another huge avenue for physical work to be done: Deep Fold suggests a new chemotherapy class.
Next: There is SO MUCH one-on-one teaching to be done, and I mean reparative teaching. Don't worry about computers and AI replacing humans on this one. Can't be done.
Just a few ideas; hope they help.
-c
I'm not.
We are not ALL supposed to be pure knowledge workers.
I am.
I agree with you that we are commanded to earn our bread by the sweat of our brow, but like all the other commands of God, man will break this one as well.
It is absolutely certain that robots will take away the need for physical labor. Robots will be on sale this year for under $50,000.00. Highly capable human level robots will be on sale next year. The cost of rising a human child to 18 or so in the U.S. is widely estimated at over $300,000.00. It takes 18 years or more to "make" a human worker. It takes less than 18 days to make a robot. (Cars, with many more parts, are assembled in two days or less.)
Guess what you can do with next year’s human level robots? Yes, use them to assemble robots. It will lead to a literal explosion of robots. You might wonder what is holding back robots right now? It is lack of real world intelligence. Alas, that is being solved rapidly at this very time. The AI we will have THIS year will be able to take most white collar jobs, and next year AI will have enough real world, commonsense intelligence to take most manual jobs. It is coming very, very fast.
We don't have to stop working just because robots are better and more economical. Tractors are better than horses at plowing, but many Amish still use horses. Those of us who believe we should earn our living by honest work with our own hands and minds will still be able to do this but MOST people are not going to do this. The future many AI enthusiasts want to see is one where robots take over almost all work, and everyone receives government UBI welfare payments to live on. They envision most people spending their time in (ultimately unsatisfying) idle leisure activities, drugs, or immersing themselves in virtual reality "Matrix" type worlds.
This is one the "better" outcomes if we don't freeze AI at our current level. The reality is that there are many other, more likely, negative outcomes than the one these people are hoping for.