

It's 2067 and robots have wiped out millions of jobs, AI is rampant, and unemployment is on the rise. Technology companies and CEOs have become public enemy number one. This portrayal of the future is one tech executives are keen to avoid and has driven a growing chorus to support the idea of a universal basic income (UBI). "There is going to be backlash when it comes to jobs," Sayantan Ghosal, an economics professor at the University of Glasgow who has written about UBI, told CNBC by phone. U.S. technology firms have been investing heavily in research and development of AI. Tesla with driverless cars, Amazon with workerless shops, and the likes of Google developing smarter-than-human software. Even Sergey Brin, the co-founder of Google, recently stated that he was "surprised" by the pace of AI developments. Basic income 'necessary' Over the past few months, major technology executives have come out in support of a UBI. In an interview with CNBC in November, Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk backed the idea. "There is a pretty good chance we end up with a universal basic income, or something like that, due to automation," Musk said. He reiterated his thoughts last week at the World Government Summit in Dubai, in which he said a UBI would be "necessary".

Marc Benioff, chief executive of Salesforce, warned of AI creating "digital refugees". At the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos in January, Benioff said there was "no clear path forward" on how to deal with the job displacement that will occur. Other tech executives talked up the industry's responsibility. "We should do our very best to train people for the jobs of the future," Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said at Davos. Tech firms could be in 'firing line' Experts say that the tech industry is growing more aware of its role in driving future automation and displacement, and companies don't want to be at the heart of any backlash from workers. "That is a factor. The concern that suddenly public enemy number one will be robots and they (tech firms) will be in the firing line," Guy Standing, professorial research associate at the School of Oriental and African Studies, told CNBC by phone. "But I think the sort of people I am meeting in the industry are more worried about the grotesque inequality and political backlash against that."

Marc Benioff, CEO of SalesForce at the World Economic Forum in Davos Switzerland. David A. Grogan | CNBC