OpenAI Chief Executive Sam Altman said on Tuesday that artificial intelligence was unlikely to trigger a widespread “jobs apocalypse,” acknowledging that earlier concerns about rapid job displacement had not materialized at the pace he once expected.
Speaking virtually at a Commonwealth Bank of Australia conference in Sydney, Altman said OpenAI had been “roughly right” in predicting the technological progress of AI since the launch of ChatGPT in 2022, but had been “pretty wrong” about the technology’s immediate social and economic effects.
Altman said he had initially expected greater disruption to entry-level white-collar employment.
“I’m delighted to be wrong about this,” Altman told Commonwealth Bank Chief Executive Matt Comyn.
He added that his earlier concerns about the risks of AI-driven unemployment were genuine at the time, even if those fears have not yet materialized on a large scale.
Altman said his evolving view on employment was shaped by the continued importance of human interaction in many workplaces.
He described experimenting with AI-generated responses for Slack and email messages before deciding to personally answer some communications again.
“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.
Altman said the experience reinforced his belief that certain aspects of human interaction remain difficult to replace with automation.
He said the overall employment picture surrounding AI now appeared likely to be “very different” from what many in the industry previously anticipated.
Despite Altman’s comments, companies across the technology and banking sectors continue to integrate AI into operations while reducing parts of their workforce.
Firms including HSBC, Amazon, Standard Chartered and Commonwealth Bank of Australia have said some jobs are being replaced or reshaped through AI adoption.
Technology companies including Meta and Cisco have also announced layoffs linked to broader AI-focused restructuring efforts.
Altman maintained that while AI could still disrupt industries over time, he no longer expected the scale of employment losses once feared by some technology executives.
“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,” he said.