The most immediate AI milestone is not singularity, but "Economic AGI," where AI can perform most virtual knowledge work better than humans. This threshold, predicted to arrive within 12-18 months, will trigger massive societal and economic shifts long before a "Terminator"-style superintelligence becomes a reality.

The integration of AI into human-led services will mirror Tesla's approach to self-driving. Humans will remain the primary interface (the "steering wheel"), while AI progressively automates backend tasks, enhancing capability rather than eliminating the human role entirely in the near term.

The common narrative for a post-labor future is Universal Basic Income (UBI). However, Elon Musk's perspective is "Universal High Income." This vision is not about wealth redistribution but about radical technological deflation, where the costs of energy, labor, and transportation approach zero, creating massive abundance and purchasing power for everyone.

Former OpenAI scientist Andrej Karpathy posits that once AGI handles most cognitive tasks, education will shift from a professional necessity to a personal pursuit. Similar to how people visit gyms for health and enjoyment despite machines handling heavy labor, learning will become an optional activity for fulfillment.

Elon Musk predicts that in a future where AI and robotics can produce any good or service on demand, money becomes irrelevant. The ultimate currency becomes energy, as it's a fundamental physical resource that cannot be legislated into existence.

Julian Schrittwieser, a key researcher from Anthropic and formerly Google DeepMind, forecasts that extrapolating current AI progress suggests models will achieve full-day autonomy and match human experts across many industries by mid-2026. This timeline is much shorter than many anticipate.

Rather than causing mass unemployment, AI's productivity gains will lead to shorter work weeks and more leisure time. This shift creates new economic opportunities and jobs in sectors that cater to this expanded free time, like live events and hospitality, thus rebalancing the labor market.

Tesla's latest master plan signals a philosophical pivot from mere sustainability to 'sustainable abundance.' The new vision is to leverage AI, automation, and manufacturing scale to overcome fundamental societal constraints in energy, labor, and resources, rejecting a zero-sum view of growth.

Contrary to fears of a forced, automated future, AI's greatest impact will be providing 'unparalleled optionality.' It allows individuals to automate tasks they dislike (like reordering groceries) while preserving the ability to manually perform tasks they enjoy (like strolling through a supermarket). It's a tool for personalization, not homogenization.