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.
“Objective facts: AI (and everyone) ...”
Excellent post. Supports my belief that AI has its uses but will not put humans out to pasture.
“’Hey Help’ from the AI.”
Kindly scan the transmitter with an infrared device.
Replace...
or
Order..
****************************************
Nah - not even that complicated
Radars are instrumented anymore, constantly checking system health. By the time AI gets done it’s “hey mule here’s the new piece - change it”. In a past life I would have been that mule.
Guy I worked with hated the new stuff. Said “these things will make a mental midget out of you”. He was right. We both went and looked for something else to work on.
I use AI for webpage layout help.
I do not get the same results twice. This is simple work too.
I have used google ai mode and OpenAI gpt-5
Elon Musk is not all that smart as he thinks will put data centers on the moon or in orbit around the planet. Why when we live on a great big planet with air and water.
🙄
“Elon Musk just identified which jobs go first with the AI Revolution”
I wonder whether, if “tech entrepreneur” were the answer to that question, if tech entrepreneurs would be so glib about it, or so enthusiastic about pursuing the technology. Maybe not.
Data centers in orbit will protect them from the angry mobs of humans rendered useless by AI, at least until the robot armies are ready to take over and deal with the problem.
Awesome - thank you
“I also suspect that 40% of teachers can be replaced by AI as of today.”
I suspect you are quite wrong. Not sure which +_ percent
but I can tell you that in 10 years it will be closer to 75%
“Data centers in orbit will protect them from the angry mobs of humans rendered useless by AI, at least until the robot armies are ready to take over and deal with the problem.”
the problems with DataCenters in orbit are vast and most people have no real clue what the real challenges really are in doing this.
you might not think cooling in outerspace would be a problem, but it is.
you might not thinking the cost per kg boosted into orbit is not a problem, but it is
you might not think high speed datalinks are not a problem, but they are, and injection attacks are fun too.
don’t even get me started on bit flips, cause I know more about them than most people.
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