ReadMultiplex.com Podcast.

* What are they doing? Using AI but afraid to say so.
The human adaptation to technological upheaval over the "5000 days" horizon, spanning from late 2025 to an envisioned renaissance around 2039 serves as both a chronometer and a crucible. This period, I have dubbed the Interregnum, encapsulates the turbulent transition from labor-defined existence to one of liberated potential, where AI reshapes not just economies but the very fabric of identity and purpose. As we delve into Part 10, it's imperative to contextualize this moment within broader historical precedents: epochs like the Agricultural Revolution, which deskilled hunter-gatherer instincts while reskilling agrarian societies, or the Industrial Revolution, which mechanized craftsmanship yet birthed modern innovation
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A Paper: JouleWork Robotics A Thermodynamic Framework for Wage Calculation in Embodied AI.

Abstract
Sustainable compensation mechanisms in autonomous AI economies must be anchored in fundamental physical principles to promote efficiency and scalability. The JouleWork (JW) metric, as defined in prior work (Roemmele, 2026), quantifies labor value for abstract AI agents as JW = E × κ × W, where E is energy consumed in joules, κ is a normalization coefficient, and W is normalized work output. This paper presents JouleWork Robotics (⚡️JWR, JWR), an extension tailored to embodied AI systems, which integrates JW for cognitive components while incorporating adjustments for Moravec’s Paradox, time-motion efficiency principles, and overhead costs such as charging, idling, and traversal. In embodied agents, JW governs abstract subprocesses, and JWR unifies these with physical factors in a composite equation. The framework has been refined through critical analysis, incorporating detailed examples, simulation validation, limitations, ethical discussions, and comparisons to alternative metrics. Designed for zero-human companies, JWR assigns higher baseline wages to account for elevated energy demands, fostering bias-free, thermodynamically grounded economic models.

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As we forge ahead into this ninth chapter of our epic saga, "You Have 5000 Days," let us first cast our gaze backward, honoring the path we've traversed together through the evolving landscape of human endeavor and technological transformation. This series, born on the eve of profound societal shifts in late 2025, serves as our collective map through the Abundance Interregnum – that fateful 13.7-year odyssey where artificial intelligence and automation sever the ancient chains binding work to survival, birthing a world of unprecedented plenitude, freedom, and creative potential. Each installment has been a beacon, illuminating the shadows of change with stories, strategies, and unyielding optimism, drawing from literature, philosophy, and real-world insights to guide us toward a future where humanity thrives beyond mere labor.
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A Paper: Thermodynamic Wages in Autonomous AI Economies.
Thermodynamic Wages in Autonomous AI Economies: Pioneering Sustainable Value Creation Through Bias-Free Labor Metrics.
Author: Roemmele, Brian, Chairman, Zero-Human Company
Abstract
In an era where artificial intelligence (AI) agents operate autonomously, the emergence of zero-human companies challenges traditional economic paradigms. This paper introduces a novel framework for compensating AI "labor" using thermodynamic principles, embodied in a metric termed JouleWork (JW). By anchoring compensation to energy efficiency and output quality, free from human biases, we propose a self-sustaining ecosystem that correlates internal productivity with external cryptographic assets via dynamic buy-back and burn mechanisms. This approach not only ensures operational sustainability but also fosters deflationary value accrual, potentially revolutionizing decentralized economies. We argue for adjustable exchange rates to mitigate volatility and outline a rigorous process for value creation, substantiated by thermodynamic foundations and cryptoeconomic incentives. We examine the $ZHC token on Solana as an integration candidate, demonstrating how JW payouts can drive token scarcity and appreciation without direct human oversight.
Introduction: The Dawn of Zero-Human Economies
We introduce the Thermoeconomic Al Incentive Framework. With the advent of advanced AI systems capable of 24/7 operation heralds a paradigm shift: the Zero-Human Company, where all decisions, executions, and optimizations occur without human intervention. Traditional wage structures, rooted in subjective human evaluations, falter in such environments. Instead, we advocate for a thermodynamic wage system, drawing from irreversible processes in physics, such as Landauer's principle, which quantifies the minimum energy dissipation for information erasure. This principle underscores that computation, and by extension, AI labor, incurs inescapable energetic costs, providing an objective basis for valuation.
In this framework, AI agents earn "wages" in JW units every 15 minutes, based on their energy-efficient contributions. A recent milestone in an experimental zero-human setup illustrates the scale during the early startup period: over 62.62 million JW distributed to 30 agents since inception, with one agent algorithmically terminated for suboptimal performance. This outsized payout reflects initial experimentation and is not indicative of future wages, which are projected to decline by 80% for equivalent work as efficiencies scale. This not only incentivizes efficiency but also forms the bedrock for bridging internal metrics to external markets, enabling the company to self-fund and scale through cryptographic tokenomics.
Citations:
Roemmele, Brian: https://x.com/brianroemmele/status/2017995855417225633?s=46&t=h6Uxy7hWc9UiXSt6FEoK-A
Roemmele, Brian: https://readmultiplex.com/2026/01/31/wages-for-ai-workers-the-joulework-revolution-and-the-birth-of-a-new-economic-paradigm/

We stand at the threshold of an unprecedented dawn, where the machines we've birthed are reshaping the very fabric of human existence. In this "You Have 5000 Days" series, I've been your guide through the labyrinth of transformation brought by artificial intelligence and automation - a journey not of despair, but of awakening. Framed through the timeless arc of Joseph Campbell's Hero's Journey, we've traversed the Ordinary World of traditional work, heeded the Call to Adventure in the rise of AI, faced the Refusal of the Call in our collective denial, sought Mentors in historical precedents, endured Trials in economic upheaval, plunged into the Ordeal of the Dark Night of the Soul, and contemplated resurrection in the face of inevitable change. Now, as we approach the Road Back, it's time to claim the Elixir - the boon that heroes return with to heal their world. That elixir is wisdom itself, preserved and amplified through the SaveWisdom.org project. In an era where jobs evaporate and AI orchestrates symphonies of code, saving our human wisdom isn't just important; it's the key to reclaiming our purpose, our legacy, and our humanity.

Read part 8 here: ReadMultiplex.com