Elon Musk Says Money Won’t Matter in the Future. Is It Already Happening?

Elon Musk has repeatedly discussed a future where AI and robotics could create such enormous productivity that many goods and services become extremely abundant.

It sounds difficult to imagine.

But look at the past. We may already have experienced smaller versions of the same transformation.

Things That Once Cost Money but Are Now Almost Free

Photography: Every photograph once required film and development. Today, taking another 1,000 photos on your phone costs practically nothing.

Communication: International calls were once expensive. Today, we can make video calls across the world through the internet at almost no additional cost.

Knowledge: Families once purchased expensive encyclopedias. Today, enormous amounts of knowledge are available online for free.

Navigation: We purchased maps and dedicated GPS devices. Today, smartphones provide navigation almost instantly.

Software: Many powerful programming tools, databases and software platforms are available free or through open-source communities.

The pattern is interesting:

Technology does not necessarily eliminate value. It dramatically reduces the cost of producing and distributing something.

What Happens When This Reaches Manufacturing?

Now imagine combining:

Artificial Intelligence + Humanoid Robots + Autonomous Factories + Renewable Energy + Advanced Manufacturing

A factory could potentially operate continuously with far fewer human interventions.

AI could plan production.

Robots could manufacture, inspect, pack and move products.

Software could optimize the entire factory.

As productivity increases, the manufacturing cost of many products could fall dramatically.

This does not necessarily mean everything will become free. Raw materials, energy, land and other limited resources will still have value.

But history teaches us something important.

Yesterday’s expensive resource can become tomorrow’s abundant resource.

The bigger question for manufacturing professionals is therefore not simply:

“Will money disappear?”

It is:

“If AI and robotics make intelligence and labour abundant, what will become the next scarce and valuable resource?”

That may be one of the most important questions shaping the future of manufacturing.

Please comment what you think about this.

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