Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, a maker of the GPT-4, predicted that AI would first be used for physical jobs tasks before moving on to cognitive job employment. Sam stated on June 7 that artificial intelligence (AI) may partially destroy the global job sector.
However, he went on to say that new technologies will open up new work opportunities for the labor market. At an event the Economic Times hosted in New Delhi, Altman made the remarks.
Altman compared the adoption of AI to the Industrial Revolution, noting that it would eliminate certain employment but also generate “new and better jobs.” The only difference, he continued, would be the rate at which these new occupations would be produced, paving the way for adjustments to the “socioeconomic contract” and how governments view the field of artificial intelligence. “So truck drivers, farmers, factory workers. Real trouble…Then it’ll come for the easier kinds of cognitive labor. Then, maybe eventually, computer programmers, even a mathematician,” Altman said. He added that “way in the future”, AI may come for creative jobs.
According to him, the development of AI would make the world “way wealthier” and increase market productivity. According to Altman, this will result in the creation of new jobs and give people “a lot of new things to do.”
The founder of OpenAI elaborated on this by asserting that AI will make workers “dramatically more efficient” and that, rather than replacing jobs, it might help the IT sector produce 3X more software to meet the demand overhang globally.
“Earlier people thought that AI was first going to replace the physical labor jobs.. then, it’ll come for the sort of easier kinds of cognitive labor, (and) then maybe eventually like computer programmers… and then you know… maybe for the creative jobs… And, of course, we can look now and say it appears like it’s going exactly the other direction…,” Altman said.
His remarks come at a time when opponents and experts from all over the world have raised concerns about job loss as a result of the deployment of AI technologies. According to a recent report by Goldman Sachs, 300 million full-time employees could potentially be replaced by new technologies.
A quarter of labor duties in the US and Europe, according to the report, might be replaced by AI, which could potentially lead to an increase in productivity and the creation of new jobs.
The CEO of SaaS unicorn, Sridhar Vembu, previously asserted that AI may instantly threaten millions of jobs and that, if adopted without protections, could cause “unprecedented disruption of the existing social order.”
In the same talk, Altman urged world governments to control the developing industry, particularly important firms like Google and OpenAI.
Altman is in India as part of a multi-led trip that also takes him to places including Israel, Jordan, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and South Korea. On June 8th, he will likely also speak with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
