Elon Musk calls medical school ‘pointless’ as he predicts AI will outperform human doctors

A snippet from a recent podcast featuring Elon Musk has gone viral on X, sparking a wider debate on the future of healthcare, automation and medical education. The discussion took place on a YouTube podcast hosted Peter H. Diamandis, executive chairman of the X Prize Foundation, with David Blundin, co founder of DataSage, also part of the conversation.A viral podcast clip showed Elon Musk claiming AI would soon deliver medical care better than today’s top leaders receive. (YouTube/Peter H. Diamandis)The snippet was shared on X the account @unusual_whales and quickly gained traction. In the clip, Musk makes a sweeping claim about the future of healthcare, saying, “Everyone will have access to medical care that is better than what the president receives right now.”Reacting to the statement, Diamandis asks, “So don’t go to medical school?”Musk responds bluntly, “Yes. Pointless. Unless you… I would say that applies to any form of education.”Debate on humans versus machinesThe conversation then turns to how younger generations may view medical care. Diamandis notes, “The younger generation says, I do not want that human touching me, right? When the surgeon comes over. There are going to be those people later in life who still want the human in the loop.”Musk follows up with an example from exing medical technology. “I mean, let’s just take, like, we’ve seen some advanced cases of automation, like LASIK, for example, where the robot just lasers your eyeball. Now, do you want an ophthalmolog with a hand laser?”To this, Diamandis simply replies, “No,” prompting laughter from all three participants.Take a look here at the post:Online reactions pour inThe clip has triggered mixed reactions online, with several users weighing in on Musk’s remarks. One user commented, “The unpopular truth nobody wants to hear: Elon is spot on that AI will make elite level medical care free and universal so fast that going to med school today will look as pointless.” Another wrote, “Don’t worry AI will take care of it.”Others echoed similar optimism, with comments such as, “AI is going to change the world in a number of ways. Healthcare will have a huge change soon enough,” and “I agree medicine is the proving ground of AI.” Another user added, “I completely agree with Mr Musk.”