In a recent podcast appearance, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman presented a strikingly optimistic vision for Generation Z, asserting that if he was graduating college at this exact moment, “I would feel like the luckiest kid in all of history.” He made this bold claim even as he acknowledged the potential for significant job displacement due to artificial intelligence, hinting at a future where “some classes of jobs will totally go away.”
Altman, whose company is at the forefront of building superintelligence that could “far exceed humans in almost every field,” told host Cleo Abram of the “Huge If True” podcast that he believes the transformative power of AI offers unprecedented opportunities for young people. Regarding the mounting dread over potential job displacement, Altman said “this always happens, and young people are the best at adapting to this. I’m more worried about what it means, not for the 22-year-old, but for the 62-year-old that doesn’t want to go retrain or reskill or whatever the politicians call it.”
