They prefer being called "Mechanical Americans." -.-
I just posted this to another thread, but the Marshall Brain short story "Manna", shows 2 extremes of how it could go. Based on the current state of things, I'd bet on the less utopian outcome. The story is available for free on his site.
Without having read it yet, though I will soon because that sounds cool, I can see two possible scenarios. Either UBI is designed in a way that allows people to thrive, allowing for increased access to resources for all and giving people the ability to live out their dreams unfettered by employment, or everyone is paid just enough to survive and it becomes damn near impossible to acquire anything more than that, resulting in a new gilded age. I'd hope, though, that government that's populous enough to create UBI would be populous enough to make sure it's set up so that you don't create a vast underclass of everyone who doesn't own an automated business.
The unemployment benefits system in Finland is... complicated to say the least. I sometimes feel you'll probably get punished for trying to do anything but sitting in home and doing nothing. (Well, you're not punished for succeeding, but heaven forbid if you're just trying.) Heck, even activities that actually contribute to getting employed in the future (such as finishing university degrees) are sometimes behind bureaucratic hoops. So having some kind of basic welfare system no matter what you're doing would be absolutely welcome - there would be less reasons to wonder what the heck you can do without losing your benefits. The less bureaucracy to get started with new education program or a new job or a new entrepreneurship, the better.
If only more nations would consider implementing evidence based policies."If the impact on employment during the experiment was catastrophic, basic income would of course not be implemented on a large scale," he says.