OpenAI CEO Altman is now “pretty sure” AI is net job-creating, which is quite the pivot from predicting mass layoffs

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman now says AI could create more jobs than it eliminates. Altman wrote he’s “pretty sure” AI has been net job-creating so far. “This is not what I expected,” he added, having previously warned that the impact could happen so fast that it’s “potentially a little scary.” Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei has also walked back earlier statements, now calling automation a productivity multiplier rather than a job killer.

He had also previously claimed AI would take over large portions of entry-level office jobs within a very short time, a claim that drew attention but little sympathy. No studies so far show a significant AI impact on overall measured productivity or the labor market. A recent multi-university study found that the job crisis among programmers and copywriters started in early 2022, months before ChatGPT launched. The Yale Budget Lab also found no AI-related job market shifts. AI-related layoffs have still happened, though. In some cases, money earmarked for workers got redirected to AI hardware. In others, companies needed an excuse that would play well with shareholders.AdDEC_D_Incontent-1Ad Follow The Decoder for AI news, background stories and expert analyses.