Artificial Intelligence to replace jobs, leaving work as a hobby: Elon Musk

Elon Musk made remote predictions at the Viva Tech event, envisioning a future where jobs become "optional."

New Delhi: Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, stated that artificial intelligence (AI) will eventually eliminate all jobs, but he believes this is not necessarily a bad development, reported CNN.

Speaking at a startup and tech event in Paris on Thursday, Musk said, “Probably none of us will have a job,”.

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Elon Musk was speaking remotely via webcam at the Viva Tech event where he predicted a future where jobs would be “optional.”

He said, “If you want to do a job that’s kinda like a hobby, you can do a job.” Musk added, “But otherwise, AI and the robots will provide any goods and services that you want.”

Musk highlighted that for this scenario to succeed, there would need to be a “universal high income,” which should not be confused with universal basic income, however, he did not elaborate much on this concept.

The Universal basic income (UBI) refers to the government providing a certain amount of money to everyone, regardless of their earnings.

“There would be no shortage of goods or services,” Musk stated. He highlighted that AI capabilities have advanced rapidly over the past few years, advancing so quickly that regulators, companies, and users are still figuring out how to utilize the technology responsibly.

In the past also Musk expressed his concerns about AI. During his keynote on Thursday, he described the technology as his biggest fear. He cited the “Culture Book Series” by Ian Banks, a utopian fictionalized depiction of a society run by advanced technology, as the most realistic and “the best envisioning of a future artificial intelligence.”

Musk questioned whether people would feel emotionally fulfilled in a future without jobs.

“The question will really be one of meaning – if the computer and robots can do everything better than you, does your life have meaning?” Musk said.

He added, “I do think there’s perhaps still a role for humans in this – in that we may give AI meaning.”

He also advised parents to control and limit the amount of social media their children consume, saying that social media platforms “are being programmed by a dopamine-maximizing AI.”
Industry experts are continuously raising concerns over how various industries and jobs will be transformed as AI proliferates in the market.

CNN reports that in January, researchers at MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab found that workplaces are adopting AI more slowly than some had expected and feared. The report also noted that many jobs previously identified as vulnerable to AI were not economically beneficial for employers to automate at that time.

Experts largely believe that many jobs requiring high emotional intelligence and human interaction, such as mental health professionals, creatives, and teachers, will not need replacing.