Elon Musk said artificial intelligence and robotics will create such high levels of output that everyone can have a penthouse if they want.
Musk responded to a question about scarcity of luxuries in an AI-driven future. He stated that “AI/Robotics will mean everyone can have a penthouse if they want.”
Musk added that the output of goods and services will be several orders of magnitude higher than today’s economy. He recommended reading the Iain Banks *Culture* series of books for the best imagining of how that future would look.
The comment came in reply to a discussion about universal high income. The previous day, Musk had written that “Universal HIGH INCOME via checks issued by the Federal government is the best way to deal with unemployment caused by AI.”
He explained that AI and robotics will produce goods and services far in excess of the increase in the money supply, so there will not be inflation.
Musk concluded his post by asking, “That said, what is the future you want? Amazing abundance seems the best to me.”
The remarks reflect Musk’s long-standing view that advanced AI and robotics can lead to a post-scarcity economy. He has previously cited Iain Banks’ *Culture* series — a science-fiction depiction of a utopian, AI-managed society with radical abundance — as a positive vision of the future.
The exchange occurred amid broader public discussion about how society should handle potential job displacement caused by rapid advances in artificial intelligence and automation.
Musk’s statements highlight ongoing debate about the economic and social effects of AI, but do not constitute official government policy.
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