No. The "only value" is the one that people decide to give you, based on their choice. This can be coordinated via taxation and redistribution, but it's still paid from someone to you. Someone has to decide that you doing this thing is something that they like so much that they pay you a token, which you can use to redeem useful work from other citizens, such as repairing you car, or remodeling your bathroom.

Many many people enjoy various things in life, such as eating nice meals (quite spiritual to do it in good mood in friends' circle), go camping, or play music. But they don't get paid to do this.

It's very simple to understand. It doesn't depend on deserve. It depends on a concrete person or group of persons having to specifically decide that you get things in return to your time (such as your washing machine repaired, or getting petrol at the gas station) for your efforts at something that they appreciate. It's not God who gives you these things. It's not the universe and it's not Mother Nature. It's concrete people. You have to think about how what you do is actually appreciated by concrete people. You have to do something that people appreciate, whether you agree with their assessment of appreciation or not, it will be that way. You can't simply expect people to give you gas at the gas station simply because you yourself appreciate your own way of spending your time.

The fun hasn't been taken out of it. The economic value has. And good riddance. This clearing of the air has been needed for a long time. Now join everyone else who has to actually choose to either do something for fun, or for income, but not both.

Because I’ve often been with professors in math, literature, arts who pride themselves on a certain intellectual purity that makes them a cut above, while living on wages paid by the taxpayer. Suddenly the golem of basic market dynamics comes for them and these extremely smart people are struck by the unfairness and bruteness of it all. Whole careers having fun publishing useless nothings, funded by people sowing soccer balls and scrubbing toilets. I have nothing against having fun while doing your job, I have it often. But I have a job first to serve society, not myself.

The issue seems to be with the expectation that personal enrichment and subjective aesthetic appreciation should be socially instead privately funded

The AI will not stop them, or anyone else, from doing what they enjoy. It will stop them from getting paid for it. And nobody has the right to get paid for having fun. To get paid you need to deliver customer value.

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Don't complain that you lose funding if you sacrifice utility for a cirlejerk around craftsmanship.

I'm sure there's a programming equivalent. I believe theyre saying don't lose sight of the trees.