Controversial tech entrepreneur Elon Musk predicted that one day artificial intelligence (AI) will “replace all jobs” when he shared the stage with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak at Lancaster House last Thursday.
The billionaire owner of X (the site formerly known as Twitter) described AI as “the most destructive force in history” following the AI Safety Summit at Bletchley Park in Buckinghamshire.
He added: “There will come a point when no job is needed.
“You can have a job if you want to have a job, for personal satisfaction, but the AI can do everything… one of the future challenges is how do you find meaning in life.”
But his comments were challenged by financial advice expert Vivek Madlani, who claimed that AI will never fully replace the role of advisers.
The co-founder of Multiply, the UK’s first fully automated independent financial advice service, said while frontier technologies such as AI carry risks, the overall impact will be “beneficial for the industry and ultimately society as a whole.”
He said he sees a future where AI democratises access to expert financial advice, empowering more people with the intelligence they need to manage their finances effectively.
Furthermore, he anticipates a significant shift within the advisory sector itself.
“Rather than replacing jobs, we expect advisers who leverage AI tools to replace those who do not, and this will be a transition that will take a long time,” he said.
Madlani also acknowledged the “irreplaceable value of the human touch, especially when addressing the emotional aspects of financial decision-making”.
Meanwhile, co-founder and CTO of Multiply, Mike Curtis, described Musk’s comments as “misguided”.
“Where innovation makes some roles obsolete, it also opens new opportunities for new professions and roles. There is no evidence that AI is any different,” he says.
He added: “We do not see AI replacing all human advisers in so far as they are doing roles that are enhanced by the fact that they are human — e.g. the parts of their role that involve empathy, understanding and a nuanced ability to read their client’s needs and wants.”
This is a view shared by
Tyme Regent Bascombe, financial planning manager at Five Wealth, said: “Financial planning is a trust-based industry, that requires creativity, emotional intelligence, and a human touch.
“In addition, the industry is highly regulated so mass adoption of AI will likely be slower than other industries and may take decades to see noticeable change.
“If AI as Musk suggests does replace all jobs, I think financial planning will be the least of societies concerns.
He said that safety, ethics, and AI biases are all concerns of rapid development, adding that “it is important that organisations, the government and regulators all work together to provide clear guidelines on how to work with AI and help mitigate these risks where possible.”
Financial Technology Research Centre (FTRC) director Ian McKenna said: “The changes Musk describes will take at least 20 and more likely 40 years to transpire.
“If, and it is quite a big if, during that period of time humanity can avoid not wiping ourselves out and we can build in protection to stop machines vastly more intelligent than us from deciding to rid the planet of humans, the future is amazing.”
Advice firms must ‘move quickly’ as Musk challenges financial services
At the summit, tech giants signed a voluntary agreement that they will not release any more powerful AI models until their safety has been tested by governments.
The two-day summit concluded with an agreement to set up a new international panel, comprising of experts from all countries, to produce a report summarising the state of the latest science on AI.
Sunak said: “Until now, the only people testing the safety of new AI models have been the very companies developing it.
“That must change. So building on the G7 Hiroshima process and the Global Partnership on AI, like-minded governments and AI companies have today reached a landmark agreement.
“We will work together on testing the safety of new AI models before they are released.”
Despite Musk’s comments, Sunak downplayed the danger of mass unemployment due to AI, saying: “I know this is an anxiety that people have. We should look at AI much more as a co-pilot than something that necessarily is going to replace someone’s job.
“AI is a tool that can help almost everybody do their jobs better, faster, quicker, and that’s how we’re already seeing it being deployed.”
The theme of AI was one that dominated the agenda at Money Marketing Interactive in London last month, with panellists weighing up the pros and cons.
The benefits were clear — it can automate time-consuming tasks such as report writing, API (application programming interface) creation and minute taking.
This not only improves advisers’ productivity but frees them up to spend more time with clients.
Capital Asset Management chief executive Alan Smith said he believed, from a financial planning viewpoint, AI adoption was “entirely game changing”.
Schroders head of UK intermediary solutions Gillian Hepburn highlighted recent research by the company that revealed 57% of advisers believed AI was a “great opportunity”.
But there was a stark warning that, despite the upsides of AI, it was important to remain cautious and be aware of the dangers.
one day artificial intelligence (AI) will “replace all jobs”
So who exactly will be buying all the stuff AI & robots will be producing?
Elon Musk – What a prize berk! How will I get a haircut? A massage? Let alone decent financial advice. He may be a tecchie nerd, but many of us still like to interact with a human being. No shop assistants? Painters and decorators, builders, gardeners. Etc, etc. AI has its limitations. One thing seems likely – AI will just develop ignoramuses. Know nothings who are unable to think for themselves. Illiterate and innumerate because they will entirely rely on AI.
Well @Harry I am sure the richest man in the world will be mortified by your criticism If you choose to seriously study the subject there plenty of evidence to support his projections. One other thing, on the wider subject, never is a very long time. Go back in time 150 years ago and people thought humans could never fly. Never mind walk on the moon.
Ian, I’m by no means alone in disparaging Musk. Yes he is rich, so is Trump does that make them worthy? Sure never is a long time, but as Keynes said – “In the long run, we’re all dead”.
AI is fascinating and can represent a great opportunity for our profession and wider industry. We just need to be careful to build AI to be compatible with our interests in the first place. But who is best placed to decide this – Governments? This isn’t like organising a leaving party the technology and its application is highly complex!
Well “AI” has just got the band back together, the Beatles … now they have a new single out, with video to boot !!
Good lord my ears ….not a Beatles fan
Perversely….could we see the come back of Mao, Stalin, Pol Pot, Hitler ?
One question, anyone out there think the development of the Atomic bomb was a good thing ?
For the very few good reasons, the flip side brings many bad
I remember when the World Wide Web was introduced and the ‘experts’ forecasted a ‘paperless’ world. Some others said that the internet was just for ‘nerds’.
Both were wrong and I am sure that the same will be true of AI?
It will definitely be appropriate in some areas of EVERY business but I suspect it will not takeover ALL businesses.
To quote an old says, “you can fool some of the people all of the time and all of the people some of the time.” You cannot however fool ALL of the people, ALL of the time.”
‘Saying’, not ‘says’
Never…. really? The questions is one of time, technology such as AI will almost certainly replace all jobs…. in time, the question is how long? In the meantime advisors enhancing what they do by deploying technology and using AI’s are likely to be those that propser in the near term.What know what new jobs will be created? Again we don’t know, but new jobs will be created just as every new technology has created opportunity and new jobs. What Musk is saying is the need to work will become optional, what he does not say is when.
As for haircuts, robots are getting better and better by the day, so one day people will get their haircut by a robot. I suggest Mr Katz takes a look at Moxi the robot being used to help children with mental health and learning. Change is likely to be faster than we think.