Altman: Job fears, ChatGPT5 timeline and 5 other things OpenAI CEO Sam Altman talked about – Times of India

OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman spoke on a wide array of themes — from the investor frenzy around generative artificial intelligence (AI) to the fears of rampant unemployment that the adoption of the technology may lead to — during his conversation with The Economic Times in New Delhi on Wednesday (June 7). He was in a discussion with Times Internet vice chairman Satyan Gajwani. There were over 200 attendees from across the country at the event, including founders of top internet firms, investment funds, government officials and more.
During his India visit, Altman is also expected to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the minister of electronics and information technology Ashwini Vaishnaw and the minister of state for electronics and information technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar.
Here are key takeaways from the event
Accepts the job loss fears, but it’s not all gloom
Altman agreed that perhaps the biggest fear around AI adoption is of job losses that would follow across sectors. “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.
Speed is the difference this time
“The thing that might be different about this is the speed at which this could happen, and I think it would require a change to the socio-economic contract and the way governments think about this,” he said pointing out how the change might be different this time.
World needs to come together to regulate AI
Regulating AI too has been one of the biggest concerns across the world with countries debating on guidelines. Responding to a question on ethical guidelines in AI, the OpenAI chief said, “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.”
Gave no timeline for ChatGPT5
Altman did not give any timeline on the launch of GPT5, saying that it still needs a lot of research.
AI cannot kill human creativity
The OpenAI CEO ruled out that the use of AI will affect creativity, “Human creativity is not going anywhere, but expectations are gonna go up.”
India and ChatGPT
Altman said that there is very high adoption of ChatGPT in India. “India has truly embraced ChatGPT. There has been a lot of early adoption and real enthusiasm among users,” Altman said. “We are very delighted,” he added
Amazed at India’s tech efforts
He also praised India’s efforts in building technology such as UPI, Aadhaar, and the India stack.