There has been a lot of speculation about what work will look like in the future with the rapid prevalence and broad adoption of generative AI across organizations. Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates predicted that the technology will replace humans for most things.
Tesla CEO and billionaire Elon Musk shared his prediction about the technology's trajectory and potential impact on jobs in the future while speaking at the just concluded U.S.-Saudi Investment Forum in Washington, D.C.
The executive claimed that the technology has the potential to make work optional and money obsolete in within the next 20 years (via Fortune):
My prediction is that work will be optional. It’ll be like playing sports or a video game or something like that. If you want to work, [it’s] the same way you can go to the store and just buy some vegetables, or you can grow vegetables in your backyard. It’s much harder to grow vegetables in your backyard, and some people still do it because they like growing vegetables.
Musk predicts that AI and robotics will be heavily integrated across organizations and workflows to bolster productivity and efficiency, making work optional for humans.
If the tech mogul's prediction manifests into reality, the youth's future could be in jeopardy. Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei predicted that AI has the potential of slashing up to 50% of entry-level white-collar jobs, leaving Gen Z without work.
However, Musk doesn't think it will raise any issue, as work will become voluntary and there won't be any need for money in an AI-powered world. The Tesla CEO's sentiments align with Iain M. Banks’ Culture series of science fiction novels, where traditional jobs cease to exist as superintelligent AI systems erode the market.
According to the billionaire:
“In those books, money doesn’t exist. It’s kind of interesting. And my guess is, if you go out long enough—assuming there’s a continued improvement in AI and robotics, which seems likely—money will stop being relevant.”
Last year, the executive floated the idea of a universal high income system sponsored by government, where everyone gets a specific amount of money to cater to basic needs.
