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Posted on 02/18/2026 10:07:08 AM PST by SeekAndFind
Elon Musk just identified which jobs go first, and it destroys every assumption about who’s safe.
Musk: “AI is going to take over those jobs like lightning. Anything that is digital, which is like just someone at a computer doing something.”
Not factory workers. Office workers. The people who spent decades assuming education and desk jobs meant security are actually first.
Musk: “Anything that’s physically moving atoms… those jobs will exist for a much longer time.”
Output is a file? Vulnerable. Output is physical? Protected. That’s the entire framework.
Musk: “AI is really still digital.”
AI doesn’t need a body. Doesn’t need an office. Just needs access to the same software you use. Executes faster. Never tires. Costs nothing to scale.
But it can’t weld. Can’t wire a building. Can’t fix pipes or work soil.
Musk: “Literally welding, electrical work, plumbing. Those jobs will exist for a much longer time.”
Trades aren’t the vulnerable jobs. They’re the durable ones. Physical presence, real-world adaptation, manual dexterity provide protection no digital credential offers.
Analyst, accountant, paralegal, programmer, anyone producing files and documents, automates first because digital work is exactly what AI does natively.
Person moving atoms has natural defense. Physics, unpredictable environments, material resistance create friction AI can’t scale past.
Person moving bits has nothing. No friction. No physical barrier. Just software AI already operates better than most humans.
The assumption that desk work and degrees represent safety just inverted completely. College graduate producing documents faces faster displacement than the electrician producing installations.
Society spent generations telling people trades were beneath them. Pushed everyone toward offices and screens. Turns out the people who didn’t listen built the most automation-resistant careers.
Most ironic outcome of the AI revolution. The work society treated as inferior turned out to be the work society couldn’t replace. And the work society valued most turned out to be the easiest to eliminate.
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So “debt collectors” is protected employment because although it is mostly “file” it is also sometimes “physical” ....
He also predicted we were going to Mars in 10 years, 14 years ago.
No shucks, Sherlock.
Meanwhile, wasn’t Tesla turning into an Optimus company?
Was working in an aircraft hangar, and one of the mechanics was sort of a dead-beat - owed everybody money, etc.
One afternoon a flatbed came to the parking lot, hooked a chain to his Harley and dragged it up onto the bed.
We thought it was pretty funny, especially when he broke down in tears, (it was an AMF Harley, so no great loss there).
Yeah, AI can't do that.
Leg-breakers are safe.
So all those millions of government employees will not be needed? Good.
RE: wasn’t Tesla turning into an Optimus company?
Tesla is no longer primarily an electric‑vehicle car company. It still makes EVs, but its center of gravity has shifted dramatically toward robotics, autonomous systems, and what Elon Musk calls “Physical AI.”
Tesla’s own Master Plan Part IV explicitly states that the company’s mission now includes building products that bring AI into the physical world—EVs, energy systems, and humanoid robots.
Tesla plans to spend over $20 billion by 2026, with the bulk going to autonomous vehicles, robotaxis, and robotics—not traditional car manufacturing.
So, Tesla in 2026 = A hybrid of:
Robotics manufacturer (humanoid robots, factory automation)
Autonomous mobility platform (robotaxis, AI driving systems)
AI hardware + software company (“Physical AI”)
Energy + infrastructure tech (still present, but not the main story)
EV manufacturer (still important, but no longer the core identity)
If you ask AI why there is a hot spot under your hallway floor slab and your gas and water bill is higher lately, the AI can tell you to call a plumber.
“”””Leg-breakers are safe.””””
And now they can be cute little females.
I sit at a computer. The reason for my job is that I get hand-prepared applications from the public which have numerous errors. If the applications were all perfect, I’d have no job.
I’d say that if your job is interpreting and error checking human input, you’ll have your job.
MIT’s Course 6 was traditionally “Electrical Engineering”. Now it is “Computer Science and Electrical Engineering”. Most MIT undergraduate Course 6 concentrators are computer scientists—not electrical engineers. That is not true for older Course 6 majors.
In the near future, computer science will be done largely by AI. Electrical engineering will be done by humans, as will research in biology, chemistry, physics, and mathematics, as well as biochemical engineering, astronautics/aeronautics, etc.
MIT Computer Science has been reduced to a fad!
I think many on FR identified this all much earlier.
As a guy who works and codes with different “AI”, I can confidently say that Musk’s “Analyst, accountant, paralegal, programmer, anyone producing files and documents, automates first because digital work is exactly what AI does natively”
is bull pucky
If that analyst, accountant, paralegal, programmer does stuff like a code monkey i.e. without thinking,then they can be replaced.
But if they can think, they wont’ be replaced — AI hallucinates and hallucinates BAD - it does improve a programmer’s productivity but does not replace him
Musk said factory workers are vulnerable to AI. I assume that he is referring to pick and place assembly type jobs that go all the way to packaging, labeling, truck loading and maybe even AI transportation. I myself am a CNC machinist which is a high-tech trade skill. Even though CNC stands for Computer Numerical Control, there is a lot of “atom moving” involved throughout the processes. I think that my trade is safe...atleast till my working life is exhausted (hopefully 20 years).
To me, there is still a problem of trust. Who checks the documents to make sure they’re accurate? Checks the numbers to make sure they make sense? Checks the code to make sure there isn’t some hidden back door?
Not sure it’s going to totally eliminate those professions, but it may reduce the need for so many. Can get by with fewer accountants, admin jobs.
AI to get rid of congress
My kids keep sending me AI videos. They look so real. I don’t like it one bit.
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