I mean, sure, that's one of the two paths discussed in "Manna" by Marshall Brain. Within the book it's called "The Australia Project"; a kind of utopia.
Myself and the OP are more worried about the other path: a dystopia in which the majority of people are forced into something much worse than wage slavery by those in control of the thinking machines. A dystopia not unlike the one that led to the "Great Revolt" in the Dune series.
I'm glad you brought this up; I've found the term 'Butlerian Jihad' coming increasingly to mind when I read AI threads on HN. It's interesting to think about a future where we potentially put prohibitions on the use of AI for moral reasons.
My fear is that nobody will remain in control of the thinking machines. Imagine an AI agent for hire which maintains its own cryptocurrency accounts and pays its own cloud hosting bills. That's the future I'm worried about.
This is why it is important that we ensure everyone has collective control of the means of production (through voluntary means - a federation of collectives that agree to trade with one another as much as possible).
Why would the owners of the thinking machines allow this to happen?
Personally I prefer not to pass judgement on a person based on the very little knowledge that can be gleamed from a post like this. But maybe, just maybe if you actually read what I have written (in other comments as well) things might clear up for you.
Corporate brainwashing, why? That is just realistic. I mean we know earlier people with much harder lifes actually had more free leisure time.. and even Ford imagined with all the automation we may be able to work much less and have better lifes.. still here we are: A few people making tons of money, some soing very good to okayish, but the vast majority doing 2-3 low paying crap jobs to survive.. and we all even workong more than decades ago. How?
plus, before we automate anything civilian, we will have to automate everything military, cause they get the first dabs at any emerging tech.
more likely we will see global war between stealthy autonomous robots much earlier, before we automate much on the civilian side
Based on what science? Grinding at an office 9-5, 5 days a week, 50 weeks a year over meaningless pursuits is in fact what is causing mental health problems in the world today.
Mental health is more related to belonging and sense of community. Currently, not having a job is a source of guilt and shame. That has not always been the case. Nurses and educators find their reward mostly in being able to help others.
Just because a car can go 100mph doesn't mean long distance running doesn't exist. Just because a novel you write isn't the best in the world doesn't mean the hobby is pointless. Go buy a farm and grow your own food. Keep some pets. Hang out with your friends. Play with your kids. Do literally anything you want. Not having to be a wage slave to survive the winter is a good thing for humanity.