Headline: "OpenAI’s CEO Sam Altman says in 10 years’ time college graduates will be working ‘some completely new, exciting, super well-paid’ job in space".
Actual Altman quote: "In 2035, that graduating college student, if they still go to college at all, could very well be leaving on a mission to explore the solar system on a spaceship in some completely new, exciting, super well-paid, super interesting job".
This is not a serious prediction... this is just Altman's way of saying that things are going to be very futuristic in a decade. He is NOT predicting physics and engineering breakthroughs that specifically will enable a boom in space exploration. I think it's disingenuous of the media to take this quote and run with it... it's really kind of taken out of context.
Even if this is a hyperbolic comment just to say that the world is changing, it is just so weird to say things in this way. It feels very unserious and makes me think that anything he says should be seen that way, as something just made up. Isn’t he self aware enough from his experience to know this? How do you get wrapped up in your world enough to not understand how it sounds to others?
That was just an off the cuff example for jobs that will exist in the future that we haven’t thought of or don’t exist yet.
When computers were first invented and taking jobs, people hadn’t yet envisioned all the jobs computers would create. This was the point he was trying to drive home.
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[ 4.6 ms ] story [ 37.0 ms ] threadActual Altman quote: "In 2035, that graduating college student, if they still go to college at all, could very well be leaving on a mission to explore the solar system on a spaceship in some completely new, exciting, super well-paid, super interesting job".
Verdict: Nothingburger.
But also … if others here have not seen the interview this is from, it is at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hmtuvNfytjM
And like other Sam Altman interviews, he just does not answer a lot of the questions he is asked. It’s frustrating but also really slimy.
When computers were first invented and taking jobs, people hadn’t yet envisioned all the jobs computers would create. This was the point he was trying to drive home.