Elon Musk said it would not be bad if artificial intelligence replaced humans in the job market

Businessman Elon Musk once again talked about the proliferation of artificial intelligence (AI) and the possible effects of this technology on human work. The billionaire participated in a panel on the subject at the VivaTech 2024 conference in Paris.

Going against more pessimistic predictions, Musk said that the replacement of humans by artificial intelligence in the job market will actually happen and that there is not much that can be done about it. But the process won’t necessarily be bad for him, and that’s “None of us will probably have a job.” after a certain point.

“If you want to have a job that will be like a hobby, you can have a job.. But apart from that, artificial intelligence and robots will guarantee the products and services you want,” predicts the businessman.

Universal income and existential crises

Musk, still at the conference, said: A world without jobs can only function on a foundation “universal high income”. The billionaire did not elaborate on the idea, but it likely involves a payment from the government for the purchase of goods and services.

He also says that the future theme regarding this technology will be the existential question. “Does your life have any meaning if computers and robots can do everything better than you? “Perhaps humans can play a role here and this way we can give meaning to artificial intelligence,” he adds.

Musk said in recent interviews that he believes we will have artificial intelligence smarter than humans by 2025. Moreover, according to Tesla’s owner, within five years the independent thoughts and actions of artificial intelligence will “surpass all of humanity.”

The speech was met with skepticism by other industry members, such as Meta’s head of artificial intelligence. In direct response to the billionaire, he stated that AIs should “never” reach this level.

Over the past decade, Musk has been one of the biggest critics of the issue, even repeatedly repeating that it would be a threat to humanity. He currently owns his own company in the sector. xAI.

Another criticism of the businessman who attended the event was about social networks and the time young people spend on these services. According to him, children are currently “programmed by artificial intelligence that maximizes dopamine” on these platforms. Musk owns X, the former owner of Twitter.