Musk predicts AI will outsmart humans within five years

Artificial intelligence could become more intelligent than the combined capabilities of all humans within the next five years, Elon Musk has predicted.

He warned that the technology’s rapid advancement may be impossible to stop.

The world’s richest man made the projection during an interview with The Economist published on Thursday, saying AI would eventually outperform humans in almost every field, with the exception of the human experience itself.

He said the development of advanced AI would most likely usher in an era of unprecedented abundance rather than destruction, allowing people to access solutions to almost any material need.

“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.

“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 momentum behind AI development had grown beyond the control of any individual or organisation, including himself.

Musk, who has previously raised concerns about the dangers of artificial intelligence, said the risks remained but that he had accepted the technology’s continued advancement.

“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.

Responding to whether he still believed AI had a 10 to 20 per cent chance of causing human extinction, Musk said the possibility remained but his approach to the threat had changed.

He also called for leading AI companies to hold regular discussions on safety and security, suggesting weekly or bi-weekly meetings where competitors could review new models before their release.

“The competitors can keep each other honest,” Musk said, arguing that rival companies were better placed than governments to determine whether an AI system posed a security risk.

He urged the industry to implement such measures quickly, noting that the pace of innovation meant delays could be costly.

“There are so many AI breakthrough announcements, sometimes multiple per day,” he said.

Musk’s prediction, however, has been questioned by some AI experts, who argue that existing systems still do not fully understand or replicate the complexity of human intelligence.