Elon Musk Predicts Work May Become ‘Optional’ Within Two Decades. Reason: AI

Tech billionaire Elon Musk said that work may no longer be necessary for most people within the next 10 to 20 years, predicting a future in which employment becomes a choice rather than an economic requirement.

Elon Musk compared the future of work to maintaining a vegetable garden- something done for pleasure, not survival.

“My prediction is that work will be optional,” he said at a major US investment forum in Washington. He added, “It’ll be like playing sports or a video game… You can go to the store and just buy vegetables, or you can grow them in your backyard because you like doing it.”

Robots Will Transform Global Labour Markets

Elon Musk said the shift will be driven by rapid advances in robotics and automation, arguing that millions of machines could fundamentally reshape productivity and sharply reduce the need for human labour. The Tesla CEO has repeatedly said his company’s long-term value lies not only in electric vehicles but in AI-driven robotic systems.

He said widespread automation could create a world where humans work only if they want to, not because they need to earn a livelihood.

‘Money May Stop Being Relevant,’ Elon Musk Says

Elon Musk also predicted that in a fully automated economy, traditional currency could eventually lose meaning. He referenced Iain M. Banks’ Culture science fiction series, which imagines a post-scarcity society governed by advanced AI.

“In those books, money doesn’t exist,” he said, explaining, “If you go out long enough- assuming continued improvement in AI and robotics- money will stop being relevant.”

Elon Musk has addressed this concern before as well when last year he said the real question in an automated future will be one of purpose. He had then said, “If computers and robots can do everything better than you, does your life have meaning?… Humans may give AI meaning.”