Are human beings doomed to become the equivalent of pet Labradors to the superior intelligence of artificial general intelligence and robotics? That is what Elon Musk considers not just possible but virtually certain – and not in the distant future, but by 2036.

In a long recent interview with Economist editor-in-chief Zanni Beddoes, Musk asserted that within 10 years there would be no job – mental or physical – that an AI/robotics system could not do much better than any human.

Asked by Beddoes about his “pet Labradors” comment, Musk smiled and turned to the example of gardening. We go to dinner at friends’ and find it quirky to eat small, misshapen potatoes they have grown. Never mind that the ones we could buy would be big, round and juicy – we amuse ourselves with our quaint little human pastimes like gardening. We are a bit like Labradors chasing balls – done for fun, not necessity.

While cheerfully accepting that there is a 10-20 per cent chance that this superior intelligence could eventually eliminate its pets, Musk considers it more probable that AI and robotics will create a sort of global economic nirvana of abundance. In the world he imagines, anything humans need will be provided for them. In this nirvana, work is no longer necessary, everyone gets a “universal high income” – essentially a cheque printed by governments in a context where money is no longer a limiting factor for human activity. In a scenario of such abundance, deflation rather than inflation is the likely outcome. Even Beddoes had to reluctantly agree with this part of his hypothesis.

Alleged........

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