Northwest DCScoop

Elon Musk tells Joe Rogan AI is a "supersonic tsunami" for jobs, and that work will become optional. Joe Rogan: What's the solution to the jobs lost to AI and robotics? Universal basic income? A lot of people are going to be out of work. Elon Musk: I think there will be high demand for jobs, just not the same jobs. This has happened throughout modern history. There used to be buildings full of people called computers, doing calculations by hand with pencil and paper. When digital computers arrived, that job disappeared and people had to do something else. That's happening now at an accelerated rate with AI and robotics. AI is the supersonic tsunami. Joe: What jobs are left? Elon: Anything physical, like welding, electrical work, plumbing, cooking, farming, will last much longer. Anything digital, where someone is just at a computer, AI will take those jobs like lightning, just like digital computers took the job of doing calculations by hand, but much faster. Joe: Drivers, longshoremen, truckers. And so many desk jobs where people are just processing email or answering the phone. Elon: Those are being eliminated at a very rapid pace. Ultimately, working will be optional, because you'll have robots plus AI. In a benign scenario, we get universal high income, not just basic income. Anyone can have any products or services they want. But there will be a lot of trauma and disruption along the way. Joe: So we'd essentially eliminate poverty? Elon: In the benign scenario, yes. There are multiple scenarios, and a lot of ways this movie can end. The Terminator scenario is not 0%, which is why I keep pushing for AI to be maximally truth-seeking. Joe: What about meaning? It gets weird if no one ever has to work. Elon: I don't know how to answer the question about meaning. It will be an individual problem for millions of people. But the benign scenario is sustainable abundance. We haven't paved the rainforest, the national parks are still there, and everyone has excellent medical care and whatever goods and services they want. We'd have to rewire how people approach life, and hopefully people can find meaning that isn't derived from work. The job losses are already happening. The universal high income is only the benign scenario.