Altman Revises AI Job Impact Forecast: No "Apocalypse" in Sight
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman acknowledged Tuesday that his earlier warnings about artificial intelligence triggering widespread white-collar job losses may have been overstated, stating that the technology has not yet caused the employment disruption he once anticipated.
Speaking at a Commonwealth Bank of Australia conference in Sydney, Altman reflected on OpenAI's predictions since the 2022 launch of ChatGPT. While the company's technological forecasts proved "roughly right," he admitted their assessments of AI's social and economic consequences were "pretty wrong."
"I'm delighted to be wrong about this," Altman told CBA CEO Matt Comyn. "I thought there would have been more impact on entry-level white-collar jobs being eliminated by now than has actually happened."
Altman explained that his revised perspective stems from a deeper understanding of why human roles remain resilient. Despite AI's growing capabilities, he emphasized that many jobs contain an irreplaceable "human part"—particularly the interpersonal dynamics that define professional relationships.
He shared a personal example: while he experimented with using AI to draft responses to Slack messages and emails, he ultimately reverted to writing many replies himself. "I had it reply to messages, saying 'this is Sam's AI,' and 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… this is not something I can imagine myself outsourcing to an AI anytime soon."
This insight, Altman noted, has reshaped his outlook on labor markets. "It really, in both positive and negative ways, updated me to thinking that the jobs picture is likely to be very different from what we thought. I don't think we're going to have the kind of jobs apocalypse that some of the companies in our space advocate or talk about."
While Altman did not provide specific employment data during his remarks, major global firms—including HSBC, Amazon, Standard Chartered, and Commonwealth Bank—have publicly acknowledged using AI to automate certain roles. Still, widespread displacement has not materialized at the scale some experts predicted.
Altman also addressed the responsibility of tech leaders in shaping public discourse. "People are like, 'oh, you could have saved the world a lot of fear mongering and a lot of doom and gloom,'" he said. "But at the time I was like, 'I see this is a real risk—we should probably talk about it.' And it still may [happen]."
His comments come as OpenAI prepares to confidentially file for a U.S. initial public offering, with reports suggesting the company could target a $1 trillion valuation and seek to raise at least $60 billion.
For now, Altman's message is one of cautious optimism: while AI will continue to transform work, the enduring value of human connection may prove to be the technology's most significant boundary—not its greatest threat.