Forward-looking: Worried that AI will take over your job and make you unemployed? Somewhat surprisingly, OpenAI boss Sam Altman not only thinks this will happen to him, but he'll also be ashamed if his company isn't the first to be run by an artificial intelligence. But with a net worth of around $2 billion, Altman likely isn't concerned about being able to pay his bills should AI replace him.
Speaking on Conversations with Tyler, the long-running podcast hosted by economist, author, and George Mason University professor Tyler Cowen, Altman confessed his wish to have an AI take over his role as head of OpenAI.
"Shame on me if OpenAI is not the first big company run by an AI CEO," Altman said.
The chief executive also said that he often wonders "What would have to happen for an AI CEO to be able to do a much, much better job of running OpenAI than me?"
While generative AI is replacing certain positions such as call center workers and entry-level white-collar jobs, the technology is far from advanced enough to capably run an entire company department – let alone an entire company.
Altman says he thinks about ways how the process of giving AI executive-level capabilities can be accelerated. He believes it's only a number of single-digit years before this is achieved and an AI will be running a major department within OpenAI.
But what will Altman do when the AI he created replaces him? He can't be expected to spend all his time at his $27 million San Francsico mansion, $15.7 million Napa weekend ranch, or $43 million residence on Hawaii's Big Island, counting his billions. Thankfully, he also has a farm where he used to "drive tractors and pick stuff." Altman told Axel Springer CEO Mathias Döpfner last month that he intends to spend most of his time there when an AI takes over OpenAI.
Like virtually every company developing or adopting generative AI, Altman has shifted his stance on the technology's impact on jobs. It was initially argued that gen AI would augment human tasks and help people complete repetitive work more efficiently; now, he acknowledges that many workers are likely to be replaced.
"In the short term, AI will destroy a lot of jobs. In the long term, like every other technological revolution, I assume we will figure out completely new things to do," Altman said.
In September, Altman gave another prediction on when artificial general intelligence (AGI) – an AI vastly smarter than humans – would arrive. He believes that "superintelligence" will be here by 2030, and that 30-40% of tasks that happen in the economy today will be taken over by AI in the not very distant future.
