The automation that comes with AI will undoubtedly impact jobs, but when asked about the topic recently, Tesla CEO Elon Musk, as is his wont, went further and said, “I predict that jobs will become optional.”
That's a bold statement, although perhaps Musk, performing alongside Jensen Huang (who has his own strong opinions on artificial intelligence and jobs) V US-Saudi Investment Forum in Washington, D.C., such a global stage was thought to be the perfect setting for such a wild prediction.
I think at some point the currency will become irrelevant.
Elon Musk
“In the same way, you can go to the store and buy some vegetables or grow vegetables in your backyard…growing vegetables in your backyard is much more difficult, but some people do it because they enjoy growing vegetables. It will be work, not necessarily.”
This premise doesn't stand up to any logic, but Musk bolsters the argument with a rather magical leap.
“Now there will still be limitations on power, such as electricity and mass—fundamental elements of physics will still be limitations—but I think at some point currency will become irrelevant.”
Look, I know we're just ran out of penny in the US, but we still need all the other nickels, dimes and dollars to buy all those vegetables we don't grow in our backyard.
On the one hand, Musk is not wrong that AI is eating up the labor market. McKinsey reported that 92 million jobs could be replaced by automation by 2030. Goldman Sachs estimated this figure at 300 million jobs worldwidealthough the timing is unclear.
So what's the problem with Musk's dystopian views? Whether he likes it or not, the richest man in the world is a creator of change and taste. He has the ear of at least one president (when they're not fighting) and is revered by millions of people on his owned and operated platform X (formerly Twitter).
He may also often be unable to control impulsive thoughts or think through the consequences of his words.
I've been performing Musk covers for over ten years (two years I started a podcast about his daily affairs), and this attitude of making bold statements, often accompanied by confusion or fear, has been pretty much his trademark for over a decade.
Changemaker, but what's the agenda?
Some of what Musk promises or says comes true. He wanted Tesla to become a global electric vehicle brand and took the same approach to building SpaceX's shuttle for both the International Space Station and thousands of Starlink satellites. He convinced myself to become the owner of Twitter and then remade it in his own unpredictable image.
Musk has often said that his biggest concerns are the Internet, energy, and becoming an interplanetary species (he once told me that), but it's often hard to know what he stands for. He tweeted in 2020“I sell almost all physical property. I won't have a home,” and yet he is not only the richest man in the world, but seems quite preoccupied with monetary wealth, having just agreed one of the largest CEO compensation packages in history.
I think it would be easy for the richest man in the world to tell people, many of whom are struggling paycheck to paycheck, that money won't matter and work will be optional because AI and robots will do everything for us. Musk says it will take a lot of work, but he has never offered any plans to help ordinary people get to this utopia or dystopia through this work.
Well, no plans other than artificial intelligence and humanoid robotics, which he says will “virtually eradicate poverty.” How this happens is unclear, and I doubt Musk has a plan to do it.
Instead, he just keeps building rockets to take who knows who to uninhabited Mars, and keeps building tin trucks something that most consumers will never be able to afford, let alone want. He joins a US administration that is going after the richest countries while people in small towns take two or more jobs to pay for Thanksgiving dinner next week.
I remember a man I met over ten years ago. I thought he was brilliant, a little shy and probably overworked. Even then he led Tesla, SpaceX and SolarCity. He told me how he used email to manage it all and keep things organized.
It was a good conversation and I felt comfortable asking him about his hobbies and skills outside of business. He had nothing but the ability to whistle. I asked him to whistle something and he chose, “Take me to the moon.”
It was a sweet and rather innocent moment. What, I wonder, would Musk whistle today? Maybe it's?
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