AI is Skilled at Tasks but Not Whole Jobs, Says OpenAI CEO Sam Altman

According to OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, artificial intelligence (A.I.) is currently good at performing specific tasks but not whole jobs. Speaking at an economic event in India, he likened A.I. to junior developers that can only complete one-minute tasks. While tools will improve and eventually learn, A.I. for the time being makes workers more efficient rather than replacing them. Moreover, due to declining populations in many areas, it is predicted that there will be a shortage of workers to perform jobs. Hence, A.I. can help fill that gap and allow humans to engage in higher-value work. Although A.I. is likely to lead to job losses, Altman insists that it will also create new and better opportunities. However, this could require governmental and socioeconomic changes for people to adapt. Altman also advocates for the implementation of universal basic income schemes to cushion the effect of A.I. on jobs. Despite the current limitations, Altman believes that the world is on an exponential curve with A.I. and that better systems are yet to come.