Sam Altman says AI is competing with PhDs for jobs

On a new podcast, Sam Altman says AI can now top the world's toughest math competitions or solve the same problems as a PhD in his field.

Companies like Amazon have admitted they will cut jobs due to AI, and Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei has warned that the technology could wipe out half of all basic office jobs. It has many worried about the job prospects for graduates.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman predicts AI will replace the work of even PhDs. Photo: Bloomberg

In the U.S., the unemployment rate for people with a bachelor’s degree rose to 6.1% in May, up from 4.4% the month before, according to the latest data from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis (FRED). Breaking down the results by industry, AI-related fields, including commercial arts and graphic design, fine arts, and computer engineering, all had higher unemployment rates, above 7%.

But in the tech industry in particular, job market volatility is nothing new, according to Art Zeile, CEO of tech career platform Dice. Nearly 600,000 tech workers are expected to lose their jobs between 2022 and 2024, according to Layoffs.fyi.

Zeile said it was a difficult time for new graduates to enter the job market. Businesses were reducing hiring, especially for entry-level positions, as they reassessed their staffing levels and sought more specialized skills.

Still, the current situation is an opportunity for young people to improve their skills and focus. Tiffany Hsieh, director of the Center for Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Work at Jobs for the Future, agrees.

“Young people looking for tech or graphic design jobs should think about how they can upskill, retrain or transition, but others in less-affected fields like elementary school teachers and civil engineers have less to worry about,” she told Fortune .

Even Altman is optimistic that AI won’t completely threaten the future of work, because it will open up new opportunities. “A lot of jobs will disappear. A lot of jobs will change dramatically, but we’ve always been very good at finding new things to do,” he said on the podcast.

Zeile predicts that in the coming years, many jobs will focus on designing AI experiences; storytelling with data. Those with AI agent development skills will also have an advantage.

“AI agent masters, which are still in their infancy, could be invaluable to companies looking to automate significant parts of their workflows,” he said.

While the future remains uncertain, there are still many roles in fields like skilled trades or healthcare that are growing and relatively stable in the face of AI, Hsieh added. She encourages Gen Z to explore different roles in industries that have never been considered before. “We will all need to become more comfortable with career transitions and adopt a lifelong learning mindset,” she said.

(According to Fortune)

Writing articles, creating quizzes, making podcasts: 8 ways AI 'magically' transforms the news you watch every day What AI tools are newsrooms and journalists around the world using to maximize their creativity and serve readers with better news?

Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/sam-altman-noi-ai-canh-tranh-viec-lam-voi-ca-tien-si-2413680.html