OpenAI CEO Sam Altman talks AI investment, job loss, and ethics

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, the man who is behind the making of the ChatGPT and subsequent AI revolution, spoke on a wide range of topics during his conversation with The Economic Times in New Delhi on June 7, Wednesday. Here are some highlights.

Altman believes there is too much frenzy around AI in the short term, but it's very under-hyped in the long term. “Too much frenzy around AI in the short term. But it’s very under-hyped in the long term,” he said.

Altman acknowledges the fear of job loss due to AI adoption but believes new, better jobs will replace those lost. “In two generations, we kind of adapt to any labour market change, and we see new jobs that are usually better. That is going to happen here too. Some jobs are going to go away. But there will be new, better jobs that are difficult to imagine,” he said.

Altman believes there should be no AI-related regulation on smaller startups and that only bigger companies should be regulated. “We have explicitly said there should be no regulation on smaller companies. The only regulation we have called for is on ourselves and people bigger’’, he said.

Altman emphasizes the need for ethical guidelines in AI and believes it's an existential risk that the world should come together to manage. “Those are not OpenAI's decisions to make. It's for the world to democratise. Our recent funding into such projects is to help enable that’’, and added, “I think the world should come together. This is an existential risk. If the governments cannot, we will ask the companies to do it’’.

Altman praises India's adoption of OpenAI's AI chatbot ChatGPT and lauds the country's efforts in building technology. He also appreciated the country’s efforts in building technology such as UPI, Aadhaar, and the India stack.