OpenAI Founder Sam Altman: The AI Era is Coming, How Humans Can Embrace the Prosperous New Chapter of the Intelligence Age

In the coming decades, we will be able to achieve many things that seem like magic to our grandparents. With rapid technological advancements, we are on the cusp of an intelligence revolution, with Artificial Intelligence (AI) at the core of this transformation. Sam Altman, the founder of OpenAI, explores these changes and their profound impact on society and the future of humanity in an article published on 9/23.

AI Will Enhance Human Progress Ability

Sam Altman states that human progress is not a new phenomenon but is currently accelerating. The achievements we can reach have far surpassed the imagination of our ancestors. This advancement is not due to genetic changes but is attributed to the continuous improvement of social infrastructure, allowing everyone to harness intelligence more powerful than that of individuals alone.

Our grandparents and earlier generations have laid a solid foundation for human progress. Today, artificial intelligence is providing us with tools to solve complex problems, further driving progress, and building better societal structures for future generations. Our children will be able to achieve feats beyond our imagination.

How AI Will Change Work and Learning

Sam Altman believes that this process will not happen overnight, but we will soon be able to collaborate with AI to accomplish tasks that were previously impossible to do independently. Eventually, each of us may have a personalized AI team, virtual experts capable of collaborating in various fields to help us realize almost any creative idea. For the next generation, AI mentors can provide personalized education in any subject, language, or pace tailored to the learner's needs.

Furthermore, fields such as healthcare and software development will undergo significant changes, turning many dreams that seem unattainable today into reality. The power of AI will not only enhance individual capabilities but also help us achieve broader shared prosperity.

A Shared Future: Beyond Current Prosperity

Sam Altman suggests that this shared prosperity could surpass our current imagination. In the future, everyone's quality of life could be better than that of the affluent class today. While wealth itself does not guarantee happiness, it can significantly improve people's quality of life on a global scale.

A Leap of Wisdom in Human History: The Era of Superintelligence

Sam Altman points out that from a narrow perspective, the evolution of human history can be interpreted as the result of scientific discoveries and technological advancements. The accumulation over thousands of years has allowed us to extract chips from molten sand and use their remarkable precision and microscale to build increasingly powerful artificial intelligence systems.

This process may be one of the most influential phenomena in history. Starting from breakthroughs in deep learning technology, we may enter the era of superintelligence in just a few thousand days, although it may take longer, but I firmly believe that we will eventually get there.

The Key to Success Lies in Deep Learning

Sam Altman believes that the threshold for achieving this leap of prosperity lies in "the success of deep learning." Specifically, deep learning has become more powerful as it scales up, with more resources being invested to drive this technology.

Humans have discovered an algorithm that can truly learn from any data distribution. With increased computational power and data, this technology has helped us solve many challenging problems, showcasing the staggering potential for future technological developments.

How AI Will Impact Future Society

Sam Altman indicates that while many details still need to be resolved, the central role of deep learning is undeniable. The expansion of AI will improve the quality of life globally and make personal assistant-type AIs a reality, assisting people in various tasks, from healthcare to scientific breakthroughs.

From the Stone Age to the Agricultural Age, then into the Industrial Age, we are now on the path to the "Age of Wisdom." This path is paved by computational power, energy, and human will.

Ensuring the Accessibility of AI

Sam Altman believes that to make AI technology accessible to everyone, we need to reduce the cost of computation and ensure an adequate supply of energy and chips. If we do not actively build the infrastructure, AI could become a scarce resource, leading to resource competition or even war, serving only the affluent class.

We must act cautiously but also decisively. The arrival of the Age of Wisdom will bring significant challenges, but its potential benefits are so vast that we have a responsibility to explore how to address future risks.

Looking Ahead: A Bright Future in the Age of Wisdom

Sam Altman says, "I believe the future will be so bright that it is impossible to fully describe with today's words. We will witness astonishing breakthroughs such as solving climate change, establishing space colonies, and even discovering new physics. With infinite wisdom and abundant energy support, we can achieve almost anything."

Like previous technological revolutions, AI will also bring negative impacts, and we need to be prepared, maximizing the benefits of AI while minimizing its potential harms. For example, the labor market will undergo significant changes in the coming years due to AI, although most jobs may change slower than people imagine, I am not worried that we will have "nothing to do."

Humans have an innate desire to create and provide value to others, and AI will amplify our capabilities in unprecedented ways. Society will enter a new expansion period, where we can once again focus on a win-win game.

Much of the work we do today may seem meaningless to people centuries ago. However, no one will miss the past way of life. If we could travel a hundred years into the future, the prosperity then will be equally unimaginable to us.