By Futurist Thomas Frey
The Financial System Humans Won’t Control
Robot money isn’t currency for robots—it’s money controlled by robots. Autonomous AI agents that earn income, make purchasing decisions, negotiate contracts, and invest assets without human oversight. By 2035, billions of dollars will flow through economic systems managed entirely by algorithms making decisions humans never see, approve, or fully understand.
This isn’t science fiction. It’s emerging now in proto-forms: algorithmic trading systems, AI-managed investment portfolios, autonomous pricing systems, smart contracts executing automatically. But we’re approaching a threshold where these separate systems integrate into something fundamentally different—a parallel economy where machines transact with each other at speeds and scales humans can’t participate in directly.
Should you be afraid? That depends on whether you trust systems you don’t control making financial decisions that affect your life. And yes, your humanoid robot absolutely needs to know about it, because robot money determines whether your robot can function independently or remains dependent on your financial oversight.
Continue reading… “The Rise of Robot Money: When Machines Start Earning, Spending, and Investing Without You”