OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said Tuesday the rapid development of artificial intelligence is unlikely to cause a global "jobs apocalypse," and the technology has not eliminated as many white-collar jobs as he initially feared.
Speaking at a Commonwealth Bank of Australia conference in Sydney, Altman acknowledged he was "pretty wrong" about the social and economic impact of AI. He noted he and his executives had been "roughly right" on technological predictions since ChatGPT's launch in 2022.
"I'm delighted to be wrong about this," Altman said. "I thought there would have been more impact on entry-level white-collar jobs being eliminated by now."
Altman said he now understands the "human part" of employment remains irreplaceable. He shared his own experience using AI to respond to Slack and email messages, only to revert to answering some personally.
"It was an amazing example to me of we really do care about people," he said. "We really do care about our interactions with people."
OpenAI is preparing to confidentially file for a U.S. IPO, targeting a potential $1 trillion valuation and raising at least $60 billion.