Amid mounting concerns that artificial intelligence could displace millions of workers, OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman described members of Generation Z as “the luckiest kids in all of history,” pointing to the unprecedented opportunities offered by new technology.
Speaking on the "Huge If True" podcast with host Cleo Abram, Altman said that while automation would completely remove some categories of work, it would also give younger generations a unique advantage.
“I would feel like the luckiest kid in all of history,” Altman said, adding that “some classes of jobs will totally go away.”
When asked directly about the potential for AI to cause widespread job losses, Altman framed the issue as part of a historical cycle.
“This always happens, and young people are the best at adapting to this,” he said. “I’m more worried about what it means, not for the 22-year-old, but for the 62-year-old that doesn’t want to go retrain or reskill or whatever the politicians call it.”
Altman argued that the AI era would make it easier for young creators to bring their ideas to life, insisting they would adapt more readily than older generations.
While Altman expressed optimism, former Google X chief business officer Mo Gawdat, who left the company in 2018, has issued a far darker forecast. Gawdat has warned that large-scale disruption could begin as early as 2027, with no occupation safe from automation — from software engineers to CEOs and even podcasters.
“The next 15 years will be hell before we get to heaven,” he predicted, warning that AI would cause “social unrest” as workers come to terms with losing both their income and their sense of purpose.
He claimed the middle class would effectively disappear: “Unless you’re in the top 0.1 per cent, you’re a peasant. There is no middle class.”
Gawdat believes artificial general intelligence will surpass humans in every area, including corporate leadership.
“AGI is going to get better at everything than humans, at everything, including being a CEO. The one thing they don’t think of is AI will replace them, too.”
Gawdat’s concerns echo those of Geoffrey Hinton, widely regarded as the “godfather of AI,” who has warned that the technology could evolve its own language, rendering its operations opaque to human oversight.
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