OpenAI CEO Sam Altman warns IIT Delhi students to stop taking career advice from parents
Speaking at IIT Delhi’s Dogra Hall, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman warned students that blindly following traditional career advice, especially parental advice, could be a mistake in a world rapidly being transformed by AI.
Speaking at IIT Delhi’s Dogra Hall, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman warned students that blindly following traditional career advice, especially parental advice, could be a mistake in a world rapidly being transformed by AI. While the warning went viral on social media and received mixed reactions, Altman also said that we will also see some job roles disappear due to AI.
❮❯
“I think the biggest mistake young people make is listening to old people. You have to quickly develop your intuition and trust them. Traditional career advice probably won’t work that well,” Altman said, drawing laughter from a packed Dogra Hall during the meeting. He immediately clarified that parents are the most important guides for life values, but not necessarily for career choices in rapidly changing times. However, Altman cautioned students against relying on older generations to predict the future of work.
“As for predicting what the world will be like going forward, I don’t think you should trust me to have a good intuition of the rate of change,” he said, adding, “Young people always understand that best.”
Sam Altman talks about resilience at IIT Delhi and gives the example of how OpenAI was founded
Throughout the discussion, Altman repeatedly stressed the importance of “agency”, the belief that individuals can create outcomes for themselves. “Agency is also a skill that can be learned,” she said. “The world kind of takes it away from you. So you have to fight back and keep believing that you can figure anything out and make anything happen.”
This quality has become more valuable than ever, he said. “The return on agency has clearly never been higher,” Altman said, noting how AI tools now allow individuals to do work that once required large teams. “A single person with enthusiasm, ideas and willpower can make incredible things happen.”
Altman talked about the early days of OpenAI, describing how the company’s founding idea was widely seen as unrealistic. “If you’re right on the idea, no matter how unpopular it is – in fact, it’s often better to be unpopular because you don’t have anyone else with whom you’re competing and you persist with unwavering belief over a long period of time, you can achieve amazing things,” he said. “That was definitely the story of OpenAI.”
Altman urged students to take risks and persist despite setbacks. Quoting himself, he said, “Most people, especially in India, are risk averse.” “My willingness to fail allows me to succeed.” When asked in the rapid-fire round to name one skill every IIT student would develop this year, their answer was short and emphatic – “Resilience.”
Altman provides clarity on human job losses due to AI
On concerns about jobs and AI replacing human workers, Altman said it is unrealistic to be completely optimistic or completely fearful. “Anyone who says they’re just excited or just scared about AI is not being very thoughtful,” he said. While acknowledging that “some jobs will be lost entirely,” he said history suggests new roles will emerge more quickly than expected. Many of you will end up having jobs that don’t exist today, not even really as a concept,” he told the students.
