OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has made a bold prediction about the future of work and artificial intelligence (AI). In a recent interview with German newspaper Die Welt, Altman said that with rapid progress in AI, around 30 to 40 per cent of the tasks we perform today could soon be handled by machines.
Altman is usually careful about making forecasts, but this time he didn’t hold back. When asked about the timeline for artificial general intelligence (AGI)—the point at which AI becomes smarter than humans in most areas—he suggested it could happen before the end of this decade. “If we don’t have models by 2030 that are extraordinarily capable and do things we ourselves cannot do, I’d be very surprised,” Altman said.
Interestingly, Altman stressed the word tasks instead of jobs. According to him, it’s not that entire professions will disappear overnight, but many parts of those jobs could be automated. For example, routine paperwork, scheduling, or even parts of creative work might be handled by AI, leaving humans to focus on higher-level decision-making or tasks that require empathy and judgment.
The interviewer also pushed Altman on a controversial point—how will AI treat humans once it reaches superintelligence? Some researchers, like Eliezer Yudkowsky, have compared the future relationship between AI and humans to that of humans and ants, suggesting AI may see us as insignificant. But Altman disagreed. He said he believes AGI will treat humans more like a “loving parent.”
This view echoes what AI pioneers Geoffrey Hinton and Yann LeCun have said in the past—that AI should be built with “maternal instincts” so that it cares for humanity rather than ignores or harms it. Still, Altman admitted that there could be unintended side effects of AGI, and that’s why aligning AI systems with human values is critical.
The OpenAI chief’s remarks come at a time when governments and tech companies around the world are debating how to regulate AI. While his prediction about 40 per cent of tasks being automated may sound alarming, Altman seemed to suggest that AI could also bring opportunities—by freeing humans from repetitive work and helping them focus on what truly matters.
For now, one thing is clear: the race to AGI is moving faster than ever, and its impact on the job market—and on our daily lives—could be bigger than we imagine.
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