Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, on Sunday shared his vision for the gradual evolution of AI agents, imagining a future where AI could revolutionize fields ranging from software engineering to creative pursuits.
Altman’s perspective is that these AI agents might serve as virtual junior co-workers capable of handling complex tasks, albeit under human direction.
He likened this potential transformation to the economic impact of the transistor—ubiquitous yet revolutionary, fundamentally reshaping industries while remaining largely unseen in daily life.
According to the OpenAI CEO, an agent so-trained will eventually be capable of “doing most things a software engineer at a top company with a few years of experience could do,”
“It will not have the biggest new ideas, it will require lots of human supervision and direction, and it will be great at some things but surprisingly bad at others,” he said.
These comments echo sentiments previously voiced by Mark Zuckerberg, who also emphasized that AI would be able to code at the level of a “mid-level engineer” at Meta by the end of 2025.
Altman maintains that the integration of such technologies will feel “gradual” and uneven, with people continuing their everyday lives seemingly unchanged for now.
Despite the gradual uptake, Altman notes several key factors — such as exponential resource investments and declining AI usage costs — poised to accelerate AI development.
With AI’s socioeconomic value expected to rise exponentially, he predicts significant societal impact, with sectors like scientific progress potentially experiencing unprecedented growth.
Contrasting Altman’s optimism, concerns about AGI (Artificial General Intelligence) revolve around its potential to exacerbate existing inequalities unless widely accessible.
These contrasting concerns have led to the rise of demands for a universal basic income from top tech leaders including many from the management of leading AI companies.