Tech billionaire Elon Musk has predicted that artificial intelligence could surpass the combined intelligence of all humans within the next five years, warning that its rapid advancement may no longer be possible to halt.
Speaking in an interview with The Economist published on Thursday, Musk said AI is on course to outperform humans in nearly every field, except for the uniquely human experience.
“I think AI may exceed the sum of human intelligence in around five years. There really won’t be anything that AI can’t do better than humans, apart from being human, perhaps,” he told The Economist.
Despite longstanding concerns about the risks associated with AI, Musk said he believes the technology is more likely to usher in an era of extraordinary prosperity than widespread destruction.
“The most likely outcome is an age of amazing abundance, where anyone can have anything they can think of. This may sound preposterous, but here we are in 2026, let’s see where we stand in 2036,” he added.
The Tesla and SpaceX chief executive said the pace of AI development has grown beyond the control of any individual or organisation, including himself.
While acknowledging that AI and robotics still pose risks, Musk said he has accepted that their continued evolution is inevitable.
“I still think there’s risk associated with AI and robots. It’s not zero. I guess I’ve come to my philosophical conclusion to look on the bright side. I can’t see any way to really stop this incredible momentum of AI and robots,” he said.
“Let’s enjoy the ride is my philosophy at this point, because there seems to be just an inexorable progress here in AI and in robots that even if I wanted to stop it, I don’t, I couldn’t,” Musk added.
Asked whether he still believes AI carries a 10 to 20 per cent chance of causing human extinction, Musk said the possibility remains, although his perspective on managing the threat has evolved.
He also advocated regular safety meetings among leading AI companies, suggesting weekly or bi-weekly discussions where competing firms could assess new AI models before they are released.
“The competitors can keep each other honest,” Musk said, arguing that industry rivals may be better positioned than governments to identify potential security risks.
He urged companies to move quickly in adopting such safeguards, noting that AI innovation is advancing at an extraordinary pace.
“There are so many AI breakthrough announcements, sometimes multiple per day,” he said.
However, Musk’s forecast has been met with scepticism from some artificial intelligence experts, who argue that current AI systems still fall short of understanding or replicating the full complexity of human intelligence.
