Universal High Income, Free Goods: Elon Musk On An AI-Driven Future
“AI and robots will replace all jobs. Working will be optional, like growing your own vegetables, instead of buying them from the store,” Musk wrote.
Billionaire technocrat Elon Musk has said that people may not need to save for retirement in the next 10 to 20 years if the advances he foresees in artificial intelligence and robotics come to fruition. He believes a future of abundance will meet all healthcare, housing and income needs.
“One like side recommendation I have is, don't worry about squirreling money away for retirement. In 10 or 20 years, you won't need to save for retirement. If any of the things that we've said are true, saving for a retirement will be irrelevant,” Musk said.
Optimism On AI-Driven Abundance
Speaking on the Moonshots with Peter Diamandis podcast, Musk expressed confidence that AI and robotics will enable a sustainable and abundant future. He described himself as “optimistic” about the trajectory of technological progress, saying the future is likely to be “amazing” if these advances materialise as expected.
‘Universal High Income’ Future
Addressing concerns around jobs, healthcare and the cost of living, Musk predicted a future marked by universal high income. He also suggested that such abundance could paradoxically lead to social unrest once people’s material needs are fully met.
“I think we're going to end up beyond abundance — beyond what people possibly could think of as abundance. AI and robots will saturate all human desire,” he said.
AI To Surpass Human Intelligence
Musk said he believes that within 10 to 20 years, AI will surpass the combined intelligence of humans and take over more than half of today’s jobs. However, he framed this shift as a positive development, arguing that robots performing work would dramatically increase productivity and drive down prices.
The resulting productivity gains, he said, would exceed “what people possibly could think of as abundance.”
“We're talking about an abundant world, massive amounts of compute, universal high income. Like universal, you can have whatever you want, income. That's really what it amounts to,” Musk added.
‘Working Will Be Optional’
Musk has previously made similar assertions about a future dominated by AI and robotics. In October, he said in a social media post that AI and robots would replace all jobs, making work optional.
“AI and robots will replace all jobs. Working will be optional, like growing your own vegetables, instead of buying them from the store,” Musk wrote.
Goods And Services ‘Almost Free’
Earlier, in an interview with US Senator Ted Cruz, Musk said that goods and services in the future would become almost free.
“Goods and services will become close to free. It's not as though people will be wanting in terms of goods and services. You have tens of billions of robots that will make you anything or provide any service you want for basically next to nothing,” he said.
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