# If AI and Robots Advance, Will Money Still Matter?

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/yesterday-i-went-to-mars-7106663/if-ai-and-robots-advance-will-money-still-matter
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/yesterday-i-went-to-mars-7106663/if-ai-and-robots-advance-will-money-still-matter.md
Podcast: [*“Yesterday, I Went to Mars ♡”*](https://stenobird.com/podcast/yesterday-i-went-to-mars-7106663)
Published: 2026-07-28T12:18:00+00:00
Episode link: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/makotowillolympusmons/episodes/If-AI-and-Robots-Advance--Will-Money-Still-Matter-e3ml7sl
Audio file: https://anchor.fm/s/fcce555c/podcast/play/123428181/https%3A%2F%2Fd3ctxlq1ktw2nl.cloudfront.net%2Fstaging%2F2026-6-28%2Fe7c2745d-e00b-8fc8-411b-0ecef2a49a79.mp3
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/yesterday-i-went-to-mars-7106663/episodes/if-ai-and-robots-advance-will-money-still-matter
Duration seconds: 99

## Resource

This episode takes up a question prompted by something Elon Musk was saying: if AI and robots eventually handle most work and drive production costs down sharply, does money still matter? It works through the logic carefully — the reason we pay for things now is that making them costs something. If that changes, the assumption that you work to earn might start to shift too. But scarcity doesn't disappear. Land stays finite. So do reservations at a popular restaurant, time with another person, rare experiences. Even if the form money takes changes, some system for exchanging value still seems necessary. There's also a small parallel drawn to AI itself: once something becomes available to everyone, what you do with it becomes the thing of value. Physical goods keep getting cheaper; what may carry more weight instead are things that can't be easily reproduced — connection, experience, trust, a sense of identity. A quiet reflection on a future that may be less about how much you have, and more about what kind of value you can create.

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## Transcript

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