The richest person on the planet believes that in the future, Earth may have “not enough people,” and declining birth rates could threaten human civilization.
“I think one of the biggest risks to civilization is low birth rates and rapidly declining birth rates,” said Elon Musk, the father of six, at the annual CEO Council meeting organized by the Wall Street Journal on December 6.
“Moreover, many people think that the world’s population is too large and is growing out of control. The truth is completely the opposite. Look at the numbers. If people do not have more children, civilization will collapse,” he stated.
Elon Musk believes that declining birth rates will threaten human civilization. (Photo: Reuters).
Elon Musk brought this up while answering a question about how the Tesla Bot could address some labor issues. This is a “humanoid robot” envisioned by Musk. He plans to equip the robot with artificial intelligence similar to the Autopilot in Tesla cars.
In August, at the Tesla AI event, Musk announced a humanoid robot, standing 1.7 meters tall, capable of moving at a speed of about 8 km/h and carrying objects weighing 68 kg. At the CEO Council meeting, Musk mentioned that the Tesla Bot could gradually replace human jobs over time.
According to Business Insider, during this event, Musk also addressed the issue of human aging. He believes that we should not strive to live for too long. If humans were to live forever, society would become very complex, and new ideas could not come to fruition.
“I’m not joking about aging. I’m just saying that if we have people in very important positions who need to make critical decisions regarding national security, they need to have sufficient clarity and cognitive ability,” Musk added.
On December 2, on his personal Twitter account, Musk suggested that people over 70 should not run for political office. By December 6, when some discussions arose regarding this opinion, the Tesla founder explained that while there are minimum age requirements for members of the House, Senate, and the President in the U.S., there should also be a maximum age limit.
