Elon Musk Says You Don't 'Have to Go to College' Because 'Supersonic Tsunami' of AI Will Make Learning Skills 'Unnecessary'

Elon Musk says the skills taught in college may not be necessary in the future because of the AI revolution.

Speaking on the “People By WTF” podcast with entrepreneur Nikhil Kamath in November, the Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) CEO said college can be useful for developing social skills and spending time with people your age. But he thinks going to college to learn new skills makes less sense given the direction society has taken.

“Will these skills be necessary in the future? Probably not, because we’re gonna be in like a post-work society,” Musk said. “But I think, if something’s of interest, it’s fine to go and study that. You know, to study the sciences, the arts and sciences.”

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‘Most Radical Change We’ve Ever Seen’

Musk said college is no longer essential, but those who choose to attend should take a wide range of courses and focus on breadth. He said his older sons share the view that AI will make many skills “unnecessary” in the future.

“I don’t think you have to go to college, but I think if you do, you just try to learn as much as possible across a wide range of subjects,” Musk told Kamath. “But like I said, AI and robotics is a supersonic tsunami. This is really gonna be the most radical change that we’ve ever seen.”

Musk is not alone in warning about the potential impact of AI on jobs and education. Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei recently warned that AI could bring an “unprecedented shock” to the labor market. He thinks AI could displace half of all entry-level white-collar jobs in the next five years. Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ:MSFT) co-founder Bill Gates also believes artificial intelligence will take over many tasks traditionally done by humans, to the point that people will not be needed for “most things.”

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AI was a major reason behind about 55,000 layoffs last year, according to workforce consulting firm Challenger Gray & Christmas.

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Not ‘Guaranteed to Have a Positive Future’ With AI

Musk told Kamath that artificial intelligence is “potentially destructive,” with the greatest risk coming from humans forcing it to accept lies or false propaganda. He said AI can be made safer by ensuring it seeks truth, stays curious and develops some appreciation of beauty.

“It’s not that we’re guaranteed to have a positive future with AI,” Musk said. “I think you can make an AI go insane if you force it to believe things that aren’t true, because it will lead to conclusions that are also bad.”

Elon Musk Says You Don’t ‘Have to Go to College’ Because ‘Supersonic Tsunami’ of AI Will Make Learning Skills ‘Unnecessary’

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