In a recent podcast appearance, Openai CEO Sam Altman put forward a very optimistic vision for Generation Z and asserted that if he was graduating college at this exact moment, “I would feel like the luckiest kid in the entire history.” He made this bold claim, even if he acknowledged the massive work displacement caused by artificial intelligence, which hints about the future that “some categories of jobs will disappear completely.”
Ultraman (Altman) Cleo Abram In a “huge if real” podcast he believes the power of AI provides young people with unprecedented opportunities. Regarding the growing fear of potential work displacement, Ultraman said: “It always happens, and young people are best suited to adapt to this. I’m more worried about what it means than for a 22-year-old, but for a 62-year-old who doesn’t want to go retraining or re-killing, what it is.”
Canvas for creation and entrepreneurship
Altman’s optimism stems from unrivaled access to AI, especially the powerful tools that models like the newly launched GPT-5 offer. He envisioned a world where one could set up a company that earned a billion-dollar valuation and offered amazing products, a feat that once required “hundreds of people.” This capability, he said, is the basis of a significant advancement in the recently released GPT-5.
Altman suggests that this new era will greatly enhance the abilities of young creators, allowing them to bring their thoughts to life at an unprecedented speed. Still, he did not shy away from the destructive potential of AI in the job market. he Recognized predictions In just five years, “half of the entry-level white-collar workforce will be replaced by AI.” But, besides his belief that young people will adapt better to the situation, he said he expects the emergence of “new, exciting, high-paying, super fun jobs”. A college student, a decade from now, may leave some kind of mission to explore solar systems for solar power, he said.
He said he believes society has proven “quite resilience” to this transformation throughout history. However, the rapid development of technology means that even predicting the future over a decade is “hard to imagine”, and even AI leaders like him don’t know where the technology can be transferred from here.
As Previously reported Wealth informationGoldman Sachs chief economist Jan Hatzius dealt with the labor market and found that the “safety premium” of university degrees has mostly disappeared. “Recent data suggest that the recent labour market for college graduates has weakened when the broader labour market looks healthy.” Academic Brad DeLong and Peter Turchin have Criticize individually The value of university degrees in their own writings and interviews disappears wealth. Goldman Sachs also found that young workers without college degrees were unlikely to even look for jobs since 1997, and their participation rate dropped by 7 percentage points. Data from Job Consulting Challengers, Gray and Christmas show that in July 2025, shortly before Altman’s speech, Nearly half of them are related Carry out AI and “technology updates”.
Altman has been brutal criticizing AI in recent weeks for matters that are completely separated from higher education. During an interview with the Federal Reserve in Washington, D.C., he warnedFraud crisis“From the corner of the imitation software. He also talked about his Fear of humanity and the next frontier of AI: “Intelligence is too cheap to measure. “Some Cybersecurity experts say Ultraman is actually talking. The fraud crisis has arrived.
The future of adaptation, humility and truth
The conversation between Altman and Abram also talks about how society will adapt to a world full of AI-generated content. When asked how people in 2030 can distinguish “what is real and what is not real” in a media landscape filled with virus-filled, AI-generated videos, for example Rabbit jumps on a trampoline attracts the internet For example, this summer – Altman proposed the meaning of gradually converging, even iPhone photos now involve AI processing. Historically, society “accepted the gradual progressive action of pure and unchanging media.” He believes that “the threshold to take into account the real level of truth will only keep going…the media is always a little real, a little bit not real.”
Altman stressed that browsing in this future will require humility and openness to new solutions. He speculated that it might be necessary to make fundamental changes to the social contract. His main tactical advice for anyone preparing for this future is simple: “It does help just using tools.” He urges people to integrate AI tools into their lives, beyond basic search.
Openai declined to comment.
For this story, wealth Use the generated AI to help with the initial draft. The editor verified the accuracy of the information before publishing.
