August M
Warnings about mass job disruption from the head of OpenAI have reignited questions about how people can secure their financial futures in an AI-driven economy.
Against that backdrop, a recent podcast discussion showed that even cutting-edge technology often falls back on old financial rules.
Jobs in flux
OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman has said the prospect of widespread job displacement is what concerns him most about artificial intelligence. Speaking on The Tucker Carlson Show, he suggested many customer support roles could soon be handled more efficiently by AI.
“I’m confident that a lot of current customer support that happens over a phone or computer, those people will lose their jobs,” Altman said. He added that history suggests roughly “50 per cent of jobs significantly change” every 75 years.
Altman described the current moment as potentially faster and more concentrated than past shifts, though he argued that, over time, the overall rate of change may not be unprecedented, reports LADBIBLE.
A practical test
Those concerns formed an unspoken backdrop to a conversation on The Diary Of A CEO, where entrepreneur Steven Bartlett explored what financial security might look like for an average earner.
Bartlett, who owns multiple businesses, invited US investor and author JL Collins onto the podcast to discuss what he called the biggest myths around investing. Collins is known for advocating simple, long-term strategies focused on saving and market exposure.
During the discussion, Bartlett decided to run an experiment with ChatGPT.
Simple answers
He asked the chatbot what a “normal person” earning $50,000 a year should do to become financially free, requesting a single sentence distilled from global investing wisdom.
Before revealing the response, Bartlett asked Collins for his view. The author replied with a stripped-back formula: “Avoid debt. Live on less than you earn, and invest in surplus.”
Bartlett then read ChatGPT’s answer, which closely aligned with that advice. The AI suggested focusing on saving, investing consistently in low-cost, broad-based index funds, living below one’s means, and allowing compound growth to work over time.
Old ideas, new tools
The overlap prompted Collins to joke that the chatbot appeared to have absorbed ideas from his own work, including The Simple Path to Wealth. While delivered by a new tool, the guidance reflected principles that have circulated among financial advisers for decades.
As AI reshapes employment prospects, the episode highlighted a paradox: even as technology transforms work, its recommendations for building wealth remain rooted in long-established habits.
Sources: LADBIBLE, The Diary Of A CEO, The Tucker Carlson Show
