The latter makes sense. We also don't let steam engines and carts pay taxes just because they 'replace' (=displace) human labor.
Don't tax tools or income, tax the accumulation of it: wealth.
> We also don't let steam engines and carts pay taxes just because they 'replace' (=displace) human labor.
It is funny because in the copyright debate, AI is often treated as human. Like "we didn't steal your data, the AI just learned from it!"
We actually have "juridical person" in most countries. I think AI would be ideal for that
Just tax land.
Problem solved.
Taxing wealth is much harder on a practical and algorithmic level than taxing income.
But either way, taxing the tool is micromanaging the problem, and some powerful people cynically promote that because they can aim the details away from themselves.