OpenAI CEO slammed for comments about jobs that will eventually be replaced by Artificial Intelligence

People have criticized the CEO of OpenAI over comments that he made about the kinds of jobs which will be replaced by AI.

Sam Altman claimed that while there is a likelihood that AI will replace some jobs, he was less than flattering about the sorts of jobs he believed it would replace.

Rowan Cheung interviewed Altman at OpenAI’s DevDay, asking him: “If you told a farmer fifty years ago that this magical thing called the internet is going to create a billion new jobs he probably wouldn’t believe you.”

Altman responded by getting into a deeper discussion about the precise nature of work.

So, what did he say that's got people so riled up?

Sam Altman spoke about the nature of different kinds of work (Kyle Grillot/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Picking up the farmer theme, Altman said the farmer would 'very likely would look at what you do and I do and say, ‘that’s not real work.'

He added: “If you’re, like, farming, you’re doing something people really need.

“You’re making them food, you’re keeping them alive. This is real work.”

But the farmer would see our modern jobs as 'playing a game to fill your time,' and therefore not a 'real job.'

“It’s very possible that if we could see those jobs of the future,” Altman said, we might think 'maybe our jobs were not as real as a farmer’s job, but it’s a lot more real than this game you’re playing to entertain yourself.'

One person took to the comments on social media with an in-depth reply which alluded to a book by anarchist anthropologist David Graeber called Bullsh*t Jobs.

This book examines in detail the problem that many people's jobs do not actually produce anything useful or do anything that makes society better, and that has led many people to experience a huge sense of alienation.

Altman was criticised for the remarks (Kyle Grillot/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

This is because we are kept from things that provide us with some sense of fulfilment, whether it's time with loved ones, doing something that makes us happy, and also crucially feeling as though we are useful to society on some level.

Referencing Graeber's book, the person commented: "As a society we have gone ALL IN on a f*cked up notion, one where if you don’t have a job then you f*cking die.

"So people, countless people, must do bullshit jobs just to survive. They must have a job that provides no meaningful contribution outside of occupying someone’s time and giving them a pittance to survive on."

They went on to point out that you can't just get rid of all these jobs without providing people with the means to survive in another way - perhaps a universal basic income.

Another person also criticised Altman, writing: "Wouldn't that also mean that AI is not doing real work?"

Someone else added: "And is therefore worthless? And the companies that make it?"