Amid growing concerns that artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming industries by taking away several jobs, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman shared his insights on the issue. Speaking on the Huge If True podcast with host Cleo Abram, Altman described Generation Z as “the luckiest kids in all of history”. When asked whether AI might lead to widespread job loss, Altman dismissed the concern as part of a recurring cycle and that he is more concerned about 62-year-olds than young people. “This always happens, and young people are the best at adapting to this. 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," he said. Altman said he believes the AI era will empower young innovators and enable them to bring ideas to life with better speed and ease. He also emphasised that Gen Z is particularly well-positioned to thrive in this shifting landscape. Recently, Mo Gawdat, former chief business officer at Google X, shared a different outlook on the shift in jobs due to AI. In a statement, Gawdat warned that AI could lead to the collapse of the middle class and usher in a period of deep societal disruption. “The next 15 years will be hell before we get to heaven. Unless you’re in the top 0.1 per cent, you’re a peasant. There is no middle class," Gawdat said, predicting that white-collar professions such as software developers, CEOs, and even podcasters will be heavily affected. “AGI (Artificial General Intelligence) is going to get better at everything than humans, at everything, including being a CEO. The one thing they don’t think of is that AI will replace them, too.” AI pioneer Geoffrey Hinton, known as the "godfather of AI," recently stated that advanced AI systems could soon develop their own language.
