why robotics will be bigger than cars industry
i see similarities between these industries in terms of what they meant regarding the impact of their solutions and the importance of the problem. the ford model t was a before and after in how people got around, replacing horses as a means of mobility, and not only that but surpassing the strengths horses had, it didn't need food, it could work 24/7 as long as its mechanisms were in good shape.
so what does robotics have to do with cars, well in my view it's the next step in our evolution. the population keeps shrinking, birth rates are among the lowest in many countries [1], in japan there's already an industry more focused on the elderly [2], and with the new migration policies emerging amid crises in many parts of the world, i don't think generational replacement will be viable.
as more of us become older, what will happen to the industries that needed workers with technical skills, and the answer is obviously robots. humanoid robots have existed for a good while now, but after the explosion of generative ai, the functional llm models gave us the path to now train functional physical models [3], and robots can also learn skills, so a technical job like an electrician's or a plumber's [4] will also become possible to replace. they won't be perfect, but little by little they will manage to replace humans, and humanity will increase its productivity like never before.
that's bigger than the car industry, since it solves the whole productive industry, which is the heart of progress, but it will also bring disputes, debates and conflicts with the human workforce, older people who won't be able to compete against robots that don't need food, don't sleep, can learn skills, and don't demand labor rights.
i also think that what sustained pensions in some policies, based on workers' taxes, won't be viable in this new industry. what i see as most likely is that countries will set percentages requiring human workers, and also taxes on the use of robotics, in order to be able to collect revenue. i also think it's likely that countries will give a universal basic income funded by taxes on companies for using robotics.
elon musk said money will be irrelevant [5], i don't think that's true, and if you don't control the flow of money, i think we could fall into authoritarianism. i hope that's not the case and that a balance is found where robots and humans can coexist, so we can go on to conquer the stars, which i believe is the path that ultimately unites us. i even think it will be robots who continue this mission of ours and discover our origin, and maybe manage to escape the end of the universe.
References
[1] "Fertility Rate." Our World in Data
[2] "The Impact of Aging and AI on Japan's Labor Market." International Monetary Fund, 2025
[3] NVIDIA et al., "GR00T N1: An Open Foundation Model for Generalist Humanoid Robots," arXiv preprint, 2025
[4] "2025 Workforce Survey." Associated General Contractors of America & NCCER, 2025
[5] Elon Musk: Money will become 'irrelevant' amid AI boom — universal high income. Finance / Yahoo News