All those who work are fools? Elon Musk's 'Protopian' idea of post-work society and what it means for wage earners

Elon Musk’s idea of a post-work society, mentioned most recently in his podcast with Nikhil Kamath, is raising both curiosity and eyebrows. He envisages a world where work would be optional, with AI and AI-powered robots doing most tasks for humans. Work would then become similar to a hobby, as people automate most of their functions, and everyone receives a universal high income or UHI. It could be the world’s most ridiculous idea, the perfect marketing strategy to sell more of Tesla’s Optimus humanoid robots, or a landmark prediction of our society’s future shape in the coming decades. Whatever your take on it is, let us understand what Musk means by a post-work society and its key features.

Post-work society: Elon Musk's ‘Protopia’ vision

In Musk’s vision, nearly all human labour, both manual and intellectual, would soon be automated. This, he argues, will bring about an “age of abundance” or a post-scarcity economy. Work would no longer be a means of survival but an optional pursuit, similar to gardening your own vegetables rather than buying them from a supermarket. This is his vision of a gradually improving world, which he calls Protopia. In this world, scarcities would be eliminated, except in the case of intentionally limited or naturally constrained resources such as land.

AI would be the “magic genie”: delivering personalised education, providing superhuman medical care, entertainment, and unlimited goods and services.

When will a post-work society come into being?

According to Musk, there is an 80 per cent chance of post-work societies emerging within the next 10 to 20 years. But he also believes there are risks if AI “doesn’t prioritise truth and beauty”.

But Musk once worried about automation displacing jobs. What changed? Musk spoke about his fears of automation back in 2016. But since then, he has become more optimistic. He is now less concerned about unemployment and more focused on ‘shared prosperity’. Much of his inspiration comes from science fiction works like Iain M. Banks’s Culture series, which depicts societies where AI ensures abundance while humans pursue creativity and exploration.

How will people earn a living in Musk’s post-work world?

Musk is a proponent of the concept of Universal High Income (UHI), as opposed to people earning wages from employment. He envisions UHI as an unconditional financial distribution to all individuals, far above the level of Universal Basic Income (UBI). UHI would cover things beyond basic necessities such as food and shelter. The high standard of living would be funded by productivity gains from AI and robotics, in Musk's view.

Labour would be effectively zero cost when robots and AI operate across manufacturing, logistics, farming and services. This would generate enormous wealth, enabling equitable redistribution, potentially via a robot tax or direct AI-generated value.

Abundance of resources would be the result when AI eliminates production bottlenecks and drives down the cost of everything, from housing to healthcare.

“There will be no shortage of goods and services, and money will no longer be a ‘database for labour allocation’ but a tool for optional exchanges,” Musk predicts.

So why would people still want to work?

In Musk’s view, work would exist only for self-fulfilment, for example in art, science, or volunteering, not for income.

He is not clear, however, on how people will find meaning and purpose in a jobless world.

Musk thinks humanoid robots will outnumber humans by 2030

Musk is optimistic about the rapid expansion of AI robots, but critics like Bill Gates argue that the world is not yet ready for full income guarantees, and instead seeks the retraining of workers on new technolgies.

Musk’s ideas, despite UHI being framed as an equaliser, also risk deepening inequality if the benefits of AI are captured by a small elite.

In a post-work society, does everyone have to buy a robot?

Nobody buys a power plant to receive electricity. Similarly, Musk argues that individuals will not need to buy their own AI or robots. In a world enabled by AI and robotics, goods and services would become extremely cheap or even free. Once nearly all physical and cognitive labour is performed by robots and AI at near-zero marginal cost, the cost of food, housing, clothing, healthcare, transport, education and entertainment would collapse, in his view. Even the cost of raw materials and energy would fall, as robots mine, refine and transport everything.

“The cost of goods and services will approach zero, just like the cost of searching on Google is essentially zero today,” he has said.

A cheque in your account? How universal high income works

The enormous economic surplus would be redistributed as a monthly payment to every adult, and possibly children, similar to certain existing child-payment schemes in the United States.

This high income would allow people to live comfortably, not merely survive. Under UHI, even the poorest people would have enough money to cover the few remaining costs in society, such as land, experiences and rare physical items.

In this world, robots and AI would become so ubiquitous that they would be provided like utilities or services, not sold as consumer products, just as one does not need to buy a ChatGPT server to get answers to queries. Governments or companies would own billions of robots and rent them out through tiny subscriptions.

“In a future of abundance, there will be no poverty… Everyone will have access to whatever goods and services they want,” Musk said.

The pitfalls of Musk's future vision without work

Almost sounding like a socialist, the potential trillionaire claims that “the poorest person in that world will live better than the richest person today in almost every way, except perhaps square footage of land”.

But many questions remain unanswered: corruption, the concentration of AI and robotics power in a handful of firms or governments, the use of autonomous machines in warfare, and the erosion of wages before the post-work society is established, which risks worsening income inequalities.

Musk believes that the same forces eliminating jobs will also end scarcity and poverty, creating a world of abundance. He argues that poverty would be impossible in such a society.

Do you think Musk should travel the current world a little more, disguised as a commoner, as former kings once did, to see what is really happening on the ground?