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OpenAI CEO Sam Altman believes that artificial intelligence will disrupt creative professions, but not in the way many fear. Speaking in a YouTube podcast hosted by Indian entrepreneur Varun Mayya on Sunday, Altman addressed how AI is changing creative work, what new job roles are emerging, and why fears of total replacement may be overstated.
“I think it’s going to be uneven and different for different kinds of jobs,” Altman said, responding to a question about the future of UI and design roles. “There will be some jobs that totally go away, where the AI does them end-to-end. But mostly, I think it’ll be a case of a new tool that makes people more productive and raises the quality of work.”
He pointed to graphic and UI design as examples where human creativity and taste remain critical. “You’ll still need people making a website look great, but expectations will go up and we’ll get better stuff. Maybe demand increases.”
Altman also emphasised that the AI era is giving birth to entirely new roles—some of which couldn’t have been imagined a few years ago. “Prompt engineering is a good example—before AI, that job didn’t exist and was hard to even imagine,” he said.
Recalling his early days, Altman reflected on how low-status tech jobs evolved into global powerhouses. “When I was young, I wanted to study computer programming. Adults around me said, “That’s a hobby job. Be a doctor or a lawyer, get a real job.’ But I felt I understood something they didn’t.”
“Just because something isn’t a high-status job today doesn’t mean it won’t be tomorrow. That’s the nature of technological progress.”
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The Ghibli debate
He also addressed the growing debate around AI-generated art, which has stirred controversy online. A recent wave of Ghibli-style AI images on social media re-ignited the discourse about whether technology is undermining creative craftsmanship.
“I think the democratisation of creating content has been a big net win for society,” Altman said. “It has not been a complete win, there are negative things about it for sure, and certainly it did something about the art form, but I think on the whole it’s been a win.”