Tech billionaire Elon Musk has stirred debate after claiming that studying medicine may soon become unnecessary, arguing that AI-powered robots will surpass human surgeons in the near future.
The Tesla and SpaceX CEO said humanoid robots such as Tesla’s Optimus could outperform even the most skilled surgeons within the next three years. Musk made the remarks during an appearance on the Moonshots podcast hosted by Peter Diamandis.
According to Musk, becoming a highly trained doctor takes many years, while humans remain limited by fatigue and the possibility of mistakes. He pointed to what he described as a global shortage of top-tier surgeons.
“Right now there’s a shortage of doctors and great surgeons,” Musk said. “It takes a super long time to learn how to be a good doctor. Doctors have limited time, they make mistakes. How many great surgeons are there? Not that many.”
When Diamandis asked whether that means people should avoid medical school, Musk responded bluntly: “Yes. Pointless.”
This is not the first time Musk has made such predictions. In April 2025, he suggested that robots would soon master surgical procedures, referencing Neuralink’s robotic system, which implants extremely thin electrodes into the human brain with precision that is difficult for human hands to match.
Despite rapid progress in robotic-assisted surgery, medical experts caution that healthcare depends on more than technical precision. They stress that human judgment, ethical responsibility, and patient interaction remain critical aspects of medical practice that technology cannot easily replace.
