Kawaii Klub

The world of Chobits has us, Society, looking at what the world should look like with advanced AI and robotics (androids) living and working with people.  Keeping in mind that this story was only written around 2001, and we're now finally only beginning to realize this new world of automation, but there are some critical differences that should be examined.

First, in the series, Persacoms are doing labor, and they are not only working side by side regular old human beings, but also are being paid in the form of wages.  However, that's not what the plans are for the people currently in control of the world today.  They plan on replacing the human workers with android machines that can work for free.  So, unless some sort of Universal Income is established when this transfer of labor takes place, nobody will be able to purchase any of the products or services that these machines are being tasked with.  It's the end of the economy, and possibly even society itself.

Given the reality of the future as it's unfolding, I feel that Chobits seems naive or perhaps too optimistic for real life.  Maybe this is just the difference in culture between the Japanese people versus the American power-hoarders.  What do you think?