Elon Musk says AI will eliminate all jobs, calls it his ‘biggest fear’

Elon Musk, the billionaire CEO of Tesla, has said that artificial intelligence (AI) will eventually eliminate all jobs. However, he affirmed that this is not necessarily an adverse development. 

Speaking at a startup and tech event in Paris on Thursday (May 23) via video link, Musk said, “Probably none of us will have a job”, while predicting a future where jobs would be “optional”. 

“If you want to do a job that’s kinda like a hobby, you can do a job,”  Musk told VivaTech 2024. “But otherwise, AI and the robots will provide any goods and services that you want.” 

During his keynote address, 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 share what that could look like.  

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, but wondered if people would feel emotionally fulfilled in a job-free future. 

He underlined that AI capabilities have advanced rapidly over the past few years, so briskly that regulators, companies, and users are still figuring out how to utilise the technology responsibly. 

During his speech on Thursday, he described the technology as his “biggest fear”.  

He also cited the “Culture Book Series” by Ian Banks, a utopian fictionalised depiction of a society run by advanced technology, as the most realistic and “the best envisioning of a future AI.” 

“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.” 

Watch: Quiet vacationing: Latest workplace trend of 2024 

Concerns continue to mount over how various industries and jobs will change as AI proliferates in the market. 

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 the lion’s share of 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. 

(With inputs from agencies)