Looking ahead, it seems fairly obvious that a UBI program is going to be necessary, and not because the population is going to become lazy. The rise of artificial intelligence is leading to more and more automation. For now, specific AI systems are only phasing out some jobs and are tools to assist humans in other jobs. But as the technology improves, automation is going to claim more and more jobs. And unlike in past epochs, it's not necessarily going to lead to new industries that create as many or more jobs. Automation is going to eliminate vastly more jobs than it's going to create--so what happens then? Most people just starve to death?
For now, UBI is a form of welfare for those who haven't had as much opportunity or are struggling for other reasons, and a way to potentially help propel them to becoming more successful within the economy. Going forward, it'll be a necessary program to keep people afloat when there may not be as many jobs as people.