OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has acknowledged that he was wrong about how quickly artificial intelligence would become a central part of the global economy, saying AI adoption has been slower than he initially expected.
In an interview, Altman said it could take longer than anticipated for AI to become deeply integrated into the economy and widely adopted by the public. He suggested that AI could take longer to reach the level of mass adoption seen with technologies such as search engines and smartphones.
Altman said AI tools have become significantly more capable, but people and businesses continue to favor familiar products, systems and habits. Changing established behavior, he said, can be more difficult than developing new technology.
He recalled that after the launch of GPT-4 in 2023, he expected its capabilities to spread much more rapidly. However, he said there remains a significant gap between what AI tools can do and how extensively people actually use them.
Altman also acknowledged that expectations within the AI industry had at times exceeded reality. Concerns over potential job losses, risks to humanity and other issues have contributed to public skepticism about the technology.
Despite AI’s rapid progress, Altman said human workers will remain important. He predicted that AI will gradually outperform people in an increasing number of tasks but argued that the importance of genuine human relationships will not disappear.