AI to Turn Jobs into Hobbies, Says Elon Musk

Elon Musk, the CEO of SpaceX and Tesla, made some predictions about the future of artificial intelligence (AI) and robots that will most probably take our jobs at the Viva Tech conference. “Probably none of us will have a job,” Musk said about AI. “If you want to do a job that’s kinda like a hobby, you can do a job. But otherwise, AI and the robots will provide any goods and services that you want.”

AI Capabilities and Job Automation

There has been a massive surge in the implementation of AI in various working sectors, not limited to the tech industries. 

However, a report from MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab found that workplaces are adopting AI much more slowly than some had expected and feared. The report also said that the majority of jobs previously identified as vulnerable to AI were not economically beneficial for employers to automate at that time.

Musk’s Views at Viva Tech Conference

Experts also largely believe that many jobs that require high emotional intelligence and human interaction will not need replacing, such as mental health professionals, creatives, and teachers. Musk himself has been outspoken about his concerns about AI. During the keynote on Thursday, he called technology his biggest fear. He cited the “Culture Book Series” by Ian Banks, a utopian fictionalized look at a society run by advanced technology, as the most realistic and “the best envisioning of a future AI.”

“In a benign scenario probably none of us will have a job,” he said. “But in that benign scenario, there will be universal high income—not universal base income—[and] there will be no shortage of goods or services.”

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“The limiting factor for AI alignment long-term will be bandwidth—how quickly we can communicate with our digital selves…Increasing this bandwidth will be crucial for AI alignment and solving brain and spinal injuries, and potentially reanimating the body,”

For Musk’s scenario of a job-free future, he said there would need to be “universal high income” – not to be confused with universal basic income, although he did not share what that could look like. “There would be no shortage of goods or services,” he said. However, Musk also questioned whether people would feel emotionally fulfilled in a job-free future. “The question will be one of meaning  – if the computer and robots can do everything better than you, does your life have meaning?” he said. “I do think there’s perhaps still a role for humans in this – in that we may give AI meaning.”

Elon Musk’s statement sparked some concern and excitement at the same time. Although AI taking over robots and services is quite tempting, it is also alarming that if that is true, there will be some potential consequences in the job market.

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