Elon Musk confirms that artificial intelligence will eliminate jobs

(CNN) — Elon Musk says AI will take our jobs, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

“None of us will probably get jobs,” Musk said of artificial intelligence at a technology conference on Thursday.

Speaking remotely via webcam at VivaTech 2024 in Paris, Musk described a future in which jobs will be “optional.”

“If you want to do something that’s like a hobby, you can do something,” Musk said. “But other than that, AI and robotics will provide you with the goods and services you want.”

For this scenario to work, he said, there must be a “high universal income,” which should not be confused with a universal basic income, even though it does not share the characteristics it would have. (“Universal Basic Income” refers to the government giving a certain amount of money to everyone regardless of how much they earn).

“There will be no shortage of goods or services,” he added.

The capabilities of artificial intelligence have increased in recent years at such a rapid pace that regulators, businesses and consumers still do not know how to use the technology responsibly. Concern also continues to grow about how different sectors and jobs will change as AI takes hold in the market.

In January, researchers at MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory found that workplaces are adopting AI much more slowly than some had expected and feared. The report also noted that most jobs previously identified as vulnerable to AI were not economically beneficial for employers to automate at the time.

Experts also largely believe that many jobs that require high emotional intelligence and human interaction will not need to be replaced, such as mental health workers, creatives and teachers.

Musk has openly expressed his concerns about artificial intelligence. During Thursday’s conference, he described this technology as his biggest fear. He cited Iain Banks’s “Cultural Book Series”, a utopian vision of a society run by advanced technology, as the most realistic and best vision of future artificial intelligence.

However, in a future without work, Musk wondered whether people would feel emotionally fulfilled.

He said: “If computers and robots can do everything better than you, does your life have meaning?” “I think humans still have a role to play in this regard, as we can understand AI.”

He also used his time on stage to urge parents to limit the amount of social media kids can watch because it is “programmed by artificial intelligence that increases dopamine.”