Technology is a disruptive force. Of all the industries that are facing this, government is one of the most interesting.

Naturally, this is something many will contest yet is going to happen in my view. Since we are dealing with entities that are slow to change, it will occur over a couple decades. That said, it is worthwhile to inquire what we could be potentially dealing with by the middle of the century.

Our existing governments were developed to deal with people residing in the physical world. Everything centers around geography. This is the key variable that all deal with.

Once we determine what government someone is under, then the type of system is established. This varies around the world and, as we saw, can change within a country.

Humans select, in most instances, representatives in some form. This can be done by the populus or by government committees/entities. The latter is known as bureacrats. Politicians tend to be elected whereas bureaucrats are selected.

Either way, they are humans.

Go through any government, following the tentacles and you will find plenty of humans. This is the basis for the entire operation.

It is also something that will change. Here is where life in the future will be noticably different.

Source

The End of Humans In Government

In the crypto world, we often discuss the idea of a Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO). This is a new business structure that has humans removed from the equation. One of the reasons we have not seen these explode is due to the fact autonomous organizations are not commonplace. Even automated systems still have people involved.

As technology progresses, this likely will change.

While the conversation operated based upon private enterprise, why are governments excluded? My guess is that, in part, people feel government is unchanging. Throughout history, that is mostly true. However, we can cite plenty of instances where change occurred. Unfortunately, this is usually driven by collapse (or revolution).

Elon Musk is heading up DOGE In the United States. One thing coming out of this is how archaic the system is. A major part of what they are focusing upon is simply taking AI and tracking payments. The key question of where the money is going is something that could not be answered.

If we think about this, it is absurd. An application can tell you everywhere your cat went in the last 24 hours yet the Pentagon has no clue where hundreds of billions of dollars ended up?

This is absurd and likely corrupt. It will be one of the major drivers away from humans being involved in the process. As confidence in governments wane, which is taking place, people will be open to other options.

They are not designed to keep pace in the world we operate in today. We see how long it takes to get anything done. This is a positive in many regard but leads to massive inefficiency. It is also responsible for the wasting of billions of dollars.

With debt levels that are atomospheric, many are questioning the sustainability of the system. Even with ponzi debt, the cost of servicing is eating up larger amounts of the economic productivity. If we game theory this out, there is a point where all output is simply going to servicing the debt. In reality, this is an impossible outcome since the entire banking system would collapse long before this point is reached.

AI Making Decisions

Why do we have a representative form of government?

When our government systems were designed, communication was slow. We are dealing with entities that have stood for hundreds of years. Does anyone realize how far we have come with technology in that time.

Basically, communication was a handwritten letter send via horseback. That was the speed of communication. Today, we know things are vastly different.

If YouTube or Facebook can keep an accurate count of billions of votes provided each day on their platform, could this alter the voting systems tied to governments? Naturally, we could have real time voting due to technology.

In fact, we see this all over the Internet. Even markets are a form of this, with millions of votes (through purchases) tallied. The results are posted on a moment-by-moment basis.

Jobs are going to be eliminated. If technology is penetrating all areas of industry, governments will reflect this. The number of military personnel required will decline as warfare becomes more automated. Does anyone think there will be fighter pilots in two decades? All military vehicles will be unmanned.

This is going to penetrate all areas of government. The difference is the battle will be slowed due to bureaucracy. Ultimately, this will not last long if financial crisis is on the horizon. There are no governments that are in good fiscal shape, at least at the national level. What this means is all are going to face hard choices.

The advancement of AI is only going to lead to better decision making skills. It will penetrate the private sector first but, eventually, will be adopted by governments. My guess is the more stressed a system is, the earlier the transition occurs. For this reason, look for countries like Japan to get ahead of the curve. The United States will likely be on the other end of the spectrum, resisting until it is trailing everyone else.

When we tie AI to blockchain, we have a very powerful system. One of the reasons DOGE is even necessary is due to the lack of transparency regarding government spending. You would think this is something that should be open for all to see. Obviously, there are many who want it hidden. How many defense contractors (or individuals) want that information available for everyone to see? I am sure there is more than a few kickbacks that went unnoticed.

Of course, nothing is going to change until people demand it. This is something that has to start with individuals understanding the technology and what is capable of. It is also why we face generational disruption. The Boomers tend to be averse to change and, at least in the US, are still in charge. When younger generations start to amass more power, their embaring of change is much greater.

The key is going to be spreading this throughout the entire economy. As we see AI systems succeeding, the push then can turn to government. There will be pushback which creates an interesting situation.

Governments, which are based upon geographic locations, are going to be taking on networks. As the digital world expands, where someone is located is a minor issue. The more important criteria is what network is he or she operating upon?

We already see where AI is going. It is being built on networks as we speak. Since 2025 and 2026 will see an explosion in AI agents, this is going to get overwhelming. The chance of most governments keeping pace is non-existent. Fortunately for them, the bureaucracy works in their favor.

That said, it can only stall, it cannot alter the eventual outcome.

All the while, humans will be removed from the process.