Elon Musk told the World Economic Forum on Thursday about his vision for a world where there are more robots than people-enough robots that you won’t be able to think of anything more to ask them to do. He also predicted that he will begin selling humanoid robots that can do “basically anything” to the public by the end of next year. Musk framed robotics as not only the solution for poverty and labor but part of a project that aims to preserve consciousness itself. But when asked what gives humans purpose in a world where machines do everything, he seemed less certain: “Nothing’s perfect.” “Robotics and AI is really the path to abundance for all,” Musk said. “People often talk about solving global poverty, or essentially, how do we give everyone a very high standard of living. I think the only way to do this is AI and robotics.” “We don’t want to find ourselves in a James Cameron movie like The Terminator,” he warned. “But if you have ubiquitous AI that is essentially free or close to it, and ubiquitous robotics, then you will have an explosion in the global economy-an expansion in the global economy that is truly beyond all precedent.” “My prediction, in the benign scenario of the future, is that we will make so many robots and AI that they will actually saturate all human needs,” he said. “Meaning you won’t even be able to think of something to ask the robot for at a certain point. There will be such an abundance of goods and services.” So what is the purpose of a human in that scenario? “Nothing’s perfect,” Musk said. “But you can’t have both. You can’t have work that has to be done and an amazing abundance for all. If it’s work that has to be done, and only some people can do it, then you can’t have abundance-it’s narrow.” “My prediction is that there will be more robots than people,” he explained. “But if you have billions of humanoid robots-and I think there will be-then I think everyone on Earth is going to have one and want one. Because who wouldn’t want a robot, assuming it’s very safe, to watch over your kids, take care of your pet? If you have elderly parents?” “There just aren’t enough young people to take care of the old people,” he said. “So if you had a robot that could take care of and protect an elderly parent, I think that would be great. That would be an amazing thing to have. And I think we will have those things.”

ELON MUSK: The overall goal of my companies is to maximize the future of civilization-basically maximize the probability that civilization has a great future-and to expand consciousness beyond Earth. So take SpaceX, for example. SpaceX is about advancing rocket technology to the point where we can extend life and consciousness beyond Earth-to the Moon, to Mars, eventually to other star systems. And I think we should always view consciousness, life as we know it, as precarious and delicate. Because to the best of our knowledge, we don’t know of life anywhere else. You know, I’m often asked, Are there aliens among us? And I’ll say that I am one-but they don’t believe me. I think if anyone would know if there are aliens among us, it would be me. We have 9,000 satellites up there, and not once have we had to maneuver around an alien spaceship. So I’m like, I don’t know. Bottom line is, I think we need to assume that life and consciousness is extremely rare, and it might only be us. And if that’s the case, then we need to do everything possible to ensure that the light of consciousness is not extinguished. Because effectively, the image in my mind is of a tiny candle in a vast darkness-a tiny candle of consciousness that could easily go out. And that’s why it’s important to make life multiplanetary, such that if there is a natural disaster or a man-made disaster on Earth, consciousness continues. That’s the purpose of SpaceX. Tesla is obviously about sustainable technology, and at this point, we’ve also added to our mission sustainable abundance. So with robotics and AI, this is really the path to abundance for all. People often talk about solving global poverty, or essentially how do we give everyone a very high standard of living. I think the only way to do this is AI and robotics-which doesn’t mean that it is without its issues. We need to be very careful with AI. We need to be very careful with robotics. We don’t want to find ourselves in a James Cameron movie. Terminator-great movies, love his movies-but we don’t want to be in Terminator, obviously. But if you have ubiquitous AI that is essentially free or close to it, and ubiquitous robotics, then you will have an explosion in the global economy-an expansion in the global economy that is truly beyond all precedent. INTERVIEWER: Can that expansion be broad? Or is it narrow? And how can that be created? How can it broaden the global economy? ELON MUSK: Yes. The way to think of it is if you have a large number of humanoid robots, the way to think about it is the average productivity per robot times the number of robots. My prediction, in the benign scenario of the future, is that we will make so many robots and AI that they will actually saturate all human needs. Meaning you won’t even be able to think of something to ask the robot for at a certain point. There will be such an abundance of goods and services. My prediction is that there will be more robots than people. INTERVIEWER: So how do you then have human purpose in that scenario? ELON MUSK: Nothing’s perfect, but it is a necessary — you can’t have both. You can’t have work that has to be done and amazing abundance for all. If it’s work that has to be done and only some people can do it, then you can’t have abundance-it’s narrow. But if you have billions of humanoid robots-and I think there will be-then I think everyone on Earth is going to have one and want one. Because who wouldn’t want a robot, assuming it’s very safe, to watch over your kids, take care of your pet? If you have elderly parents-and a lot of friends of mine do-it’s very difficult to take care of them. It’s expensive, and there just aren’t enough young people to take care of the old people. So if you had a robot that could take care of and protect an elderly parent, I think that would be great. That would be an amazing thing to have. And I think we will have those things. Overall, I’m very optimistic about the future. I think we’re headed for a future of amazing abundance, which is very cool. And we are definitely in the most interesting time in history. I don’t think there’s a more interesting time in history.

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