Artificial intelligence, according to Elon Musk, will replace humans in every field, but that doesn’t always mean a negative thing.
At a tech conference on Thursday, Elon Musk stated, “Probably none of us will have a job,”
At VivaTech 2024 in Paris, Musk spoke via a webcam in which he predicted a time when jobs will be “optional.”
Musk remarked, “You can do a job if you want to do something that’s kind of like a hobby.” “Otherwise, artificial intelligence and robots will provide any goods and services you want.”
He stated that “universal high income”—not to be confused with universal basic income—would be necessary for this scenario to succeed, although he did not elaborate on what that may entail. (The term “UBI” alludes to the government providing a fixed sum of money to all citizens, irrespective of their income.)
“Goods and services would not be in short supply,” he claimed.
Over the past several years, artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities have grown at such a rapid rate that businesses, consumers, and regulators are still working out how to utilize the technology responsibly. As AI spreads throughout the economy, worries about how different sectors and occupations will be affected also keeps increasing.
The Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab at MIT conducted a research in January that revealed workplace adoption of AI is happening far more slowly than some had anticipated. The bulk of positions that had previously been deemed AI-vulnerable, according to the research, were not at the time economically advantageous for companies to automate.
Most experts also think that many occupations, including those in mental health, the arts, and education, which need a high level of emotional intelligence and interpersonal communication, won’t need to be replaced.
Musk has expressed his worries about AI in public. He described his greatest concern in the technology at Thursday’s keynote address. He mentioned the “Culture Book Series” by Ian Banks as “the best envisioning of a future AI” and the most realistic, a utopian dramatized look at a world ruled by sophisticated technology.
However, Musk questioned if individuals would have emotional fulfillment in a world 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?” he asked. “I do think there’s perhaps still a role for humans in this – in that we may give AI meaning.”
During his talk, he also urged parents to set limits on their children’s access to social media because, as he put it, “a dopamine-maximizing AI is programming them.”
