From the jump, Von pressed Altman on the breakneck pace of AI development. “Do you think there should be kind of like a slowing things down?” Von asked, adding, “That’s one of the reasons I get scared sometimes to use certain AI stuff, because I don’t know how much personal information I want to put in, because I don’t know who’s going to have it.”
Altman acknowledged how uncertain the future feels, both for those building these systems and for the broader society swept up in their wake. “I think all of human history suggests we find a way to put ourselves at the center of the story and feel really good about it … Even in a world where AI is doing all of this stuff that humans used to do, we are going to find a way in our own telling of the story to feel like the main characters.”
Von also asked whether people should be worried their jobs could be rendered obsolete by AI. “How will people survive?” he asked.
Altman argued AI will create possibilities for individuals to pursue more creative, philosophical, or interpersonal goals, but Von pushed back: “One of the big fears is like purpose, right? Like human purpose. Like work gives us purpose … If AI is to really continue to advance so quickly, it feels like our sense of purpose would start to really disappear.”
For this story, Fortune used generative AI to help with an initial draft. An editor verified the accuracy of the information before publishing.
