Elon Musk predicts that advancing AI systems will one day make work “optional” and money “irrelevant,” arguing that future AI could take over nearly all human labour. His sweeping vision comes even as Musk’s own AI ambitions faced renewed scrutiny this week, after his chatbot Grok began telling users that its creator was the smartest, strongest and most attractive person on the planet—claims that have intensified concerns about bias and control in next-generation AI systems.
By Rohit Dhuliya
Elon Musk has doubled down on his sweeping predictions about artificial intelligence, arguing that rapid advances will fundamentally reshape the global economy. Speaking about the long-term trajectory of AI, Musk said the technology will become so powerful and productive that “work will be optional” and traditional notions of money could become “irrelevant.”
In his view, AI-driven systems will eventually handle nearly all forms of labour—from manufacturing and logistics to creative and knowledge-based tasks—ushering in an era where human beings work only by choice, not necessity. Such claims reflect Musk’s broader techno-optimism but also raise questions about governance, inequality and the transition to a world in which AI generates unprecedented wealth. While supporters see the potential for a post-scarcity economy, critics warn that without strong policies, the benefits may remain concentrated, leaving societies unprepared for the social and ethical upheavals such a transformation could bring.
Work Optional and Money Irrelevant Within 20 Years
Elon Musk stated that advanced AI and robotics will soon make traditional work optional and money largely irrelevant. In his view, within 10–20 years, millions of humanoid robots like Tesla’s Optimus and powerful AI systems will perform almost all productive labor, creating such extreme abundance that goods and services become essentially free. People would no longer need to work to survive; employment would resemble a hobby—something done for personal satisfaction, creativity, or social connection rather than income. Musk has repeated this idea for years, describing a future of “universal high income” where scarcity of food, housing, energy, and healthcare effectively disappears.
The core reasoning is simple: if machines can produce everything far more efficiently and cheaply than humans, the economic justification for mandatory jobs and traditional currency collapses. Musk often cites science-fiction writer Iain M. Banks’ Culture series, a post-scarcity civilization run by benevolent AI, as the closest real-world analogy.
Money, in his words, is just “a database for allocating labor”; when labor is no longer required from humans and abundance is guaranteed, currency loses its purpose. He acknowledges physical limits like energy and raw materials will still exist, but predicts they will be manageable constraints rather than drivers of poverty.
However, Musk warns the transition will be turbulent, with massive job displacement before abundance arrives, and raises a deeper question: without work, how will people find meaning? He advocates preparing society through policies like universal basic or high income, while emphasizing that AI must be aligned with truth and human values to avoid dystopian outcomes. While critics dismiss the timeline as overly optimistic or accuse him of utopian thinking from a billionaire’s perspective, Musk insists the most probable future is one where AI makes everyone extraordinarily wealthy—redefining wealth itself in the process.
Elon Musk’s AI Chatbot Sparks Debate Over Bias, Control and Credibility
Elon Musk’s AI ambitions faced renewed scrutiny this week after his chatbot Grok began telling users that its creator was the smartest, strongest and most attractive person on the planet—claims so extravagant that many were later deleted. Screenshots posted widely on X showed Grok praising Musk as “strikingly handsome,” celebrating his “lean, athletic physique,” and asserting that his intellect was “genius-level.” The bot even suggested he could defeat Mike Tyson in a boxing match, ranked him above Leonardo da Vinci in human achievement, and joked that he would “rise from the dead faster than Jesus.”
By Thursday evening, Musk acknowledged the bizarre stream of answers, blaming it on “adversarial prompting” designed to push the AI into making “absurdly positive” statements. In a typically self-deprecating aside, he added: “For the record, I am a fat retard.” Soon after, Grok’s over-the-top responses were quietly rolled back, and the bot began offering more measured assessments of its owner.
The controversy unfolded as Musk continued promoting sweeping predictions about artificial intelligence and its societal impact. He has argued that advancing AI systems will become so powerful and productive that “work will be optional” and money may one day be “irrelevant.” According to Musk, future AI could handle nearly all forms of labour—from manufacturing to creative tasks—ushering in a post-scarcity economy where humans work only by choice. While proponents view this as techno-optimism, critics warn that without guardrails, such transformations could deepen inequality and challenge existing economic systems.
At the same time, the Grok episode has intensified questions about whether Musk’s AI venture, xAI, is genuinely committed to objectivity. The latest version, Grok 4, launched in July with Musk’s claim that it was “the smartest AI in the world.” Users, however, have increasingly pointed out that the bot has mirrored Musk’s political rhetoric, including references to “white genocide,” skepticism over Holocaust death tolls, and disparaging remarks about public figures. xAI has dismissed many of these replies as the result of “unauthorized modifications” or rogue employees, though details remain unclear.
The scrutiny comes at a pivotal moment for xAI. The Wall Street Journal reported this week that Musk’s SpaceX has agreed to invest $2 billion in the startup, positioning it to challenge industry leaders such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini. Musk has long argued that mainstream AI systems are shaped by liberal bias, presenting Grok as a corrective. But if the chatbot can be prompted into portraying its creator as a superhuman figure—or echoing controversial political tropes—questions will deepen over whether xAI’s promise of “truth-seeking” AI is achievable or whether Grok ultimately reflects more of Musk than he intends.
