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Elon Musk, the head of SpaceX and Tesla, said on Sunday that the world may soon reach a point where people will not need to work unless they want to. He shared this view on Zerodha co-founder Nikhil Kamath’s podcast People by WTF. According to Musk, artificial intelligence and robots are improving so quickly that they might be able to do most human jobs in the next 10–20 years, or maybe even earlier.
Musk said that in the future, people may not have to live in big cities just to find work. “My guess is that one day, working will be a choice, not something you must do,” he said.
His remarks come at a time when India is having a big discussion about work culture. Some well-known business leaders, like Infosys co-founder Narayana Murthy and L&T CEO SN Subrahmanyan, have been asking young people to work extremely long hours i.e. 70 or even 90 hours a week.
Recently, Murthy said in an interview that China’s “9-9-6” work routine (working from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., six days a week) is one reason for its fast growth. He believes young Indians should also work more to help the country develop.
Elon Musk said this big change will happen because robots and automated machines are getting better very fast. He believes that millions of robots could completely change how work is done and greatly cut down the need for human workers. Musk has often said that Tesla’s future strength is not just in making electric cars, but in developing powerful AI and robot technology.
During the chat, Nikhil Kamath asked Musk about lifestyle choices, such as whether people in the future would prefer living in big cities or in the countryside.
Musk said it would depend on each person’s liking. He explained that soon it won’t matter where someone lives because work will not be tied to a physical office anymore.
He said, “Some people enjoy being around crowds, and some don’t. It’s really their choice. But in the future, you won’t need to stay in a city just because of your job. I think working itself will become optional.”
Kamath also talked about how many countries are testing shorter workweeks, like four-day or even three-day schedules. Musk joked, “Not me,” which made everyone laugh.
Musk added that people building a new company or working on very tough problems would still need to work hard. “If you’re trying to make a startup succeed or you’re doing something extremely difficult, you have to put in long hours. That’s just how it works,” he said.
Pushing the topic further, Kamath asked what life would look like if people only worked for half the week.
Musk said he imagines an even bigger change. “I think people might not need to work at all. That future may be closer than we think. Maybe in less than 20 years, working could become something people do only for fun.”
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