Elon Musk is a well-known diligent worker. He founded the satellite enterprise Starlink and the neurotechnology company Neuralink, is currently the CEO of the rocket company SpaceX and the electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla. He also owns X, the social media platform that was formerly known as Twitter.
Even Musk, meanwhile, who is well-known for sleeping on the floors of his factories to finish tasks, thinks AI may eventually make careers more of an option.
Musk, who is creating his own artificial intelligence systems at Tesla and through his 2023 business xAI, has expressed concern about the potential drawbacks of powerful AI.
However, Musk clarified during a speech this week at the VivaTech conference in Paris that he believes technology will typically have a good impact on society and may change the nature of labor.
“Probably none of us will be employed in a benign scenario,” he stated. However, there won’t be a lack of products or services in that favorable situation, and universal high income will exist instead of universal base income.
Musk continued, saying that he typically thinks the massive investment in artificial intelligence will result in a “benign” scenario. Musk is presently valued at $187 billion according to the Bloomberg Billionaire’s Index.
“In my opinion, the benign scenario has the highest probability—roughly 80%—and there won’t be any shortage of goods or services,” he stated. “Goods and services will be available to everyone in the amount they want.
“Meaning will be the actual question here. Does existence have any purpose if robots and computers can perform all tasks more effectively than you?
Impact on the future
It remains to be seen if employees are wondering what their lives are all about, but they are undoubtedly thinking about how AI may affect their professions.
In a PwC study of over 54,000 respondents conducted last year, 13% of respondents said they feared AI would replace them, and another 18% said they thought the technology would force them to pick up new skills they weren’t sure they could master.
Employees are generally positive about the ostensibly groundbreaking tech, though. Of those surveyed, 33% said AI would increase their productivity at work and 21% thought it would lead to new job prospects.
According to Musk, work will become more informal. In the long run, all work that someone performs will be optional, he continued, making an appearance via video link at the Paris conference. You can work if you choose to, but otherwise, robots and artificial intelligence will provide you with any goods and services you require.
Sadly, for employees hoping to take a break, now is not the moment. The 52-year-old businessman did not post when he thought this result may come to pass.
Flipside
Musk has frequently issued warnings about the governance and regulation required to monitor the technology. Last year, he was among the first names to appear on a letter issued by the Future of Life Institute urging a halt to massive AI trials.
This Monday, he reaffirmed that humans would be in “deep trouble” if the AI scenario went awry.
The South African-born businessman, however, offered some comfort to those who were afraid they may lose out to their more powerful language model competitors, saying, “Humans may still have a place in AI because we give it meaning.”
The limbic system, which controls our emotions and instincts, and the cortex, which controls our thought and planning, are the two main parts of the human brain. Perhaps AI will work in a similar way to the limbic system, which the cortex is continuously attempting to satisfy. In order to satisfy the limbic system, AI tries to make the cortex happy. Perhaps we are the source of the AI’s meaning and purpose.