What if, in just 10 years, money was no longer the most important thing in the world?
That is the future Elon Musk believes could be possible.
The Tesla and SpaceX boss has predicted that rapid advances in artificial intelligence and humanoid robots could create such an abundance of goods and services that traditional money may eventually lose much of its importance.
Musk’s vision is based on a simple idea: if machines can produce almost everything humans need, at extremely low costs, why would people need to work simply to earn money to survive?
AI and robots could change everything
Musk believes humanoid robots, including Tesla’s Optimus, could eventually perform a huge portion of physical work currently done by humans.
Factories could operate almost entirely through automation, while AI systems could dramatically increase productivity across industries.
The result, according to Musk, could be an economy where production grows far faster than human demand.
In such a world, the cost of basic necessities such as food, transportation and manufactured goods could fall dramatically.
Musk has described this potential future as one of “universal high income”, where people could have access to far more resources without needing traditional employment.
Would Nigerians still need money?
For countries like Nigeria, such a transformation would raise some fascinating questions.
Would people still need salaries if robots could produce most goods?
Would ₦100,000 today have the same meaning if essential products became extremely cheap?
And what would happen to jobs in industries such as transportation, manufacturing, banking, customer service and even technology?
The answers would depend heavily on how governments and societies manage the transition.
If AI-generated wealth becomes concentrated in the hands of a small number of companies and individuals, the result could actually be greater inequality, rather than universal prosperity.
Musk believes deflation could replace inflation
Musk also believes the world could eventually face the opposite of today’s familiar inflation problem.
Instead of prices constantly increasing, an enormous supply of goods produced by machines could cause prices to fall sharply.
For example, if robots could build houses, manufacture cars and produce food at extremely low costs, companies would have to compete in an environment where supply massively exceeds demand.
In Musk’s vision, governments could potentially provide citizens with regular payments similar to universal basic income, allowing people to benefit from the wealth created by automation.
But not everyone is convinced
Musk’s prediction is certainly bold, but economists and technology experts remain sceptical about the timeline.
Even if AI and robots become incredibly capable, the world will still have limited resources.
Land, energy, minerals, water and other raw materials cannot simply be created without limits.
There are also huge political and economic questions surrounding who owns the robots, who controls the AI systems and how the wealth they generate would be distributed.
And replacing money would require much more than technological progress. It would mean fundamentally changing the global economic system.
A moneyless world by 2036?
Musk’s prediction does not mean that money will definitely disappear by 2036.
Rather, it represents his vision of what could happen if AI and robotics advance at an extraordinary pace.
For Nigerians, the bigger question may not be whether the naira disappears by 2036.
It may be whether AI and robots will transform the meaning of work, income and wealth long before then.
If Musk is right, the biggest economic revolution in human history may not be about making more money.
It could be about reaching a point where money itself matters far less than it does today.
For now, however, that remains a prediction — not a guarantee.
