Sam Altman: AGI to enable larger families in the future
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has expressed a hopeful vision for the future, suggesting that the advent of Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) could foster conditions conducive to larger families and a renewed emphasis on community bonds. His recent remarks, made during an appearance on the “People by WTF” podcast with Nikhil Kamath, underscore a belief that AGI will usher in an era of unprecedented abundance, freeing up human time and resources currently consumed by economic pressures.
Altman, who recently became a father himself and describes his experience as “extremely kid-pilled,” believes that the societal shifts brought about by AGI could enable individuals to prioritize family life and community engagement. He posits that the current trend of delaying or foregoing children, particularly among younger generations, is largely driven by financial instability and resource constraints. In a post-AGI world, where the cost of many goods is expected to fall dramatically due to enhanced productivity and reduced costs of intelligence and energy, society could become significantly richer. This economic liberation, Altman suggests, would allow people to redirect their focus towards what truly brings happiness: family and community.
OpenAI’s core mission is to ensure that AGI benefits all of humanity, and Altman envisions a future where such advanced AI systems not only turbocharge the global economy but also aid in scientific discovery at an accelerated pace. He anticipates that AGI will drastically increase productivity and economic growth, potentially leading to a world with such abundance that even interest rates could dip into negative territory. This vision of a more affluent and resource-rich society is central to his optimism about population growth and stronger family units.
However, Altman’s outlook is not without its caveats. While he projects a future where human ingenuity is amplified and individuals are vastly more capable through the use of AI, he also acknowledges the potential for an uneven impact. Concerns about wealth inequality and job displacement are part of the broader conversation surrounding AGI’s integration into society. Altman has notably expressed more concern for older workers who may be less inclined to retrain or reskill in an AI-driven economy, rather than the younger generations whom he considers “the luckiest kids in history” due to their adaptability to new technologies. There are also ongoing discussions about the critical need to ensure AGI’s benefits are broadly distributed and to mitigate risks such as its potential misuse by authoritarian regimes for surveillance and control.
Despite these challenges, Altman remains confident in OpenAI’s ability to build AGI as traditionally understood, indicating that the technology is “coming into view” and may arrive sooner than many expect, potentially as early as 2025. He believes the transition will be gradual, allowing society to adapt and co-evolve with the technology. Ultimately, Altman’s vision paints a picture where AGI, by solving many of humanity’s resource and time constraints, could paradoxically enable a return to fundamental human values, making the choice to have larger families a more viable and appealing one.