OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said AI will boost productivity but won’t lead to a widespread four-day workweek because people always find additional tasks to do.
Speaking to Ti Morse on his “Relentless” podcast on Saturday, Altman said AI is unlikely to bring shorter workweeks, arguing that despite technology’s long-standing promise of more leisure time, people continue to find new ways to work and stay productive.
Altman said technology has improved quality of life and given people more leisure time over the years. Still, it has never delivered the long-promised mass shift to drastically shorter workweeks. “And I don’t expect AI to change that,” he said.
The CEO said people constantly raise their ambitions and compare themselves with others, so higher productivity leads to new goals rather than less work.
“We always want more. We think of new things to do, to create for each other, to want for ourselves. It’s like a relative game,” Altman said.
