Sam Altman's AI Optimism for Gen-Z Challenged Amid Job Fears
A recent report from The New York Times highlighted a concerning trend: computer science graduates are struggling to secure employment, even for positions outside their field, with many attributing this difficulty to the increasing encroachment of artificial intelligence into entry-level coding roles. Despite these anxieties, Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, one of the world’s leading AI companies, offers a surprisingly optimistic outlook, suggesting that recent college graduates should view their current situation as a unique advantage.
During an appearance on Cleo Abram’s Huge If True podcast, Altman notably characterized the current generation of college graduates as “the luckiest kids in all of history.” He contended that these young individuals possess an inherent capacity to adapt to the evolving economic landscape shaped by AI. Altman drew a parallel to past technological shifts, asserting that “young people are the best at adapting to this.” His primary concern, he stated, lies not with the 22-year-old embarking on a career, but rather with the 62-year-old who may be less inclined or able to retrain and reskill in response to new demands. Altman further articulated his vision, predicting the emergence of “completely new, exciting, super well-paid, super interesting” jobs driven by technological development, and proclaimed that “there’s never been a more amazing time to go create something totally new.” He also made the striking assertion that “a kid born today will never be smarter than AI.”
However, Altman’s pronouncements about AI’s capabilities and its impact on human intelligence invite scrutiny, especially in light of recent events such as the significant performance issues experienced by OpenAI’s GPT-5 model, which necessitated users reverting to the previous GPT-4 version. The notion that AI, fundamentally a language prediction algorithm, possesses “smartness” akin to human cognition has been widely challenged. AI lacks consciousness and is, at its core, a sophisticated software program designed to generate language based on vast datasets. As Tyler Austin Harper of The Atlantic aptly explained, characterizing AI as a “con” does not diminish its remarkable utility or transformative potential. Instead, it critiques the marketing of AI as a new class of thinking and feeling machines. Large language models, Harper clarifies, do not and cannot “understand” anything in a meaningful human sense; they are “impressive probability gadgets” that produce text by statistically predicting the next most likely word.
This nuanced understanding of AI contrasts sharply with the immediate realities faced by new graduates. While AI’s “intelligence” remains a subject of debate, its efficiency in automating certain entry-level tasks within tech companies is undeniable. Data from a Federal Reserve Bank of New York report underscores this impact, revealing that among college graduates aged 22 to 27, computer science majors face an unemployment rate of 6.1 percent, while computer engineering majors contend with 7.5 percent unemployment. These figures stand in stark contrast to the 3 percent unemployment rate observed among recent biology and art history graduates, highlighting a distinct challenge within the tech sector that may not align with Altman’s overarching optimism. The current landscape, therefore, presents a complex interplay between the transformative potential of AI and the tangible economic shifts it is already precipitating in the job market.