Will AI Take Jobs Or Cut Prices? Zoho’s Sridhar Vembu Responds To Elon Musk

The conversation about how artificial intelligence could take more and more jobs in future is taking a sharper turn. Its broader implications can even create a major impact on the economies. In a similar light, Zoho co-founder Sridhar Vemby has challenged xAI chief Elon Musk’s idea of a ‘Universal High Income’ as a solution for those who lost their jobs to AI. While Musk highlights that government-issued income is likely to offset job losses in an AI-dominated future, Vembu remarked on the vision as ‘dystopian’ and questioned the assumptions behind his take.Musk Proposes Universal High IncomeThe Tesla CEO suggested that governments may need to bring in a ‘Universal High Income,' where citizens can get regular payments as AI and robotics take over the jobs.

Musk also argued that AI systems could produce services and goods at such a scale that supply is expected to far exceed money creation. However, this may prevent inflation. As per the xAI chief, government-issued payments will help sustain the economy where machines handle much of the work on their own.

Vembu Responds To MuskThe Zoho chief scientist called Musk’s vision dystopian, stating it assumes a future where AI will replace most paid work and humans will rely on government transfers to participate in the economy. Questioning two of his assumptions, he said in a social media post on X on April 17, “Universal High Income is a dystopian view that assumes that technology displaces all "paid work" so humans have to be paid by the government to consume the vast output of automated factories and AI. Elon is making two assumptions: a) AI tech will lead to extraordinary explosion of goods and services produced with minimal human labour b) their glut will not lead to rapid price drops.”Vembu suggested that in a competitive market, a rise in production usually leads to falling prices. He added that prices would only remain elevated if monopolies were allowed to dominate. “Prices WILL drop unless the government allows monopolies to emerge to keep prices high. Merely enforcing EXISTING anti-monoply laws would be sufficient for prices to drop. Keep in mind that copyright is a government granted monopoly and can be taken away by the Sovereign,” expressed Vembu.

Apart from the economy, Vembu also commented on the roles that will remain for humans. He pointed out areas like teaching, farming, nursing, and spiritual leadership where human involvement is still preferred.