Elon Musk predicts future without need for jobs in talk with British PM Sunak

SHANNON LONGWORTH: ELON MUSK THINKS AI WILL TAKE CARE OF MOST OF OUR JOBS…EVEN HIS OWN.

ELON MUSK: “I HAVE TO SOMEWHAT ENGAGE IN DELIBERATE SUSPENSION OF DISBELIEF BECAUSE I’M PUTTING SO MUCH BLOOD, SWEAT AND TEARS INTO A WORK PROJECT AND BURNING THE 3AM OIL. I’M LIKE, ‘WAIT, WHY AM I DOING THIS.’ I COULD JUST WAIT FOR THE AI TO DO IT.”

LONGWORTH: IN A LIVE STREAMED DISCUSSION ON THURSDAY, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER RISHI SUNAK ASKED ELON MUSK ABOUT AI’S FUTURE IMPACT ON JOBS. MUSK PREDICTED A FUTURE WHERE NO JOBS ARE NEEDED…AND ACKNOWLEDGED THE CHALLENGES THIS COULD POSE, SUCH AS A LACK OF MEANING IN LIFE FOR HUMANS.

MUSK’S OWN PROJECT, XAI, *IS* LAUNCHING ITS FIRST PRODUCT SATURDAY.

ON THE TOPIC OF REGULATION AND CONCERNS AMONG INNOVATORS THAT REGULATION COULD STIFLE THEIR WORK, MUSK SAID HE THINKS IT’S IMPORTANT TO HAVE A REFEREE.

ELON MUSK: BUT I THINK EVEN IF THERE ARE NOT FIRM REGULATIONS, EVEN IF THERE’S NOT–EVEN IF THERE ISN’T–AN ENFORCEMENT CAPABILITY, SIMPLY HAVING THE INSIGHT AND BEING ABLE TO HIGHLIGHT CONCERNS TO THE PUBLIC, WILL BE VERY POWERFUL…”

RISHI SUNAK: “WELL, HOPEFULLY WE CAN DO BETTER THAN THAT.”

LONGWORTH: THE TALK CAPPED OFF SUNAK’S TWO-DAY AI SAFETY SUMMIT, WHICH PRODUCED SEVERAL AGREEMENTS AMONG WORLD AND TECH LEADERS.

ONE OF THOSE, BEING THE “BLETCHLEY DECLARATION.” 28 GOVERNMENTS–INCLUDING THE U.S., EU, AND CHINA–SIGNED A DECLARATION THAT THEY’D WORK TOGETHER TO ENSURE “HUMAN-CENTRIC, TRUSTWORTHY AND RESPONSIBLY A.I.” IT FOCUSES ON IDENTIFYING AND UNDERSTANDING SHARED RISKS, AND THEN DEVELOPING POLICIES TO MITIGATE THEM.

SEVERAL COMPANIES–INCLUDING OPENAI,DEPPMIND AND MICROSOFT ALSO AGREED TO ALLOW GOVERNMENTS TO TEST THEIR AI MODELS FOR SAFETY RISKS BEFORE THEY ARE DEPLOYED.