Sam Altman says he’s "confident" that AI will first take over customer service roles as it transforms the job market.
Speaking on ‘The Tucker Carlson Show’ last Wednesday, Altman stated:
I'm confident that a lot of current customer support that happens over a phone or computer, those people will lose their jobs, and that'll be better done by an AI.
The CEO didn't only pick on customer service jobs; he suggested programmers could be next, as AI makes its presence felt.
“Someone told me recently that the historical average is about 50 percent of jobs significantly change... every 75 years, on average,” he said. "My controversial take would be that this is going to be like a punctuated equilibria moment where a lot of that will happen in a short period of time.”
Given this, Altman seems to think the staffing make-up of the contact center will change quickly. That comes after he previously predicted the end of human customer service altogether.
Despite that, he now suggests that jobs, like a nurse, are unlikely to meet their end due to the demand for human connection. “No matter how good the advice of the AI is or the robot, you’ll really want that,” he noted. However, surely, support agents can offer similar reassurance. Just think about vulnerable customers....
Nevertheless, Altman’s prediction is not unique, with Oracle sharing its aim last year to automate “all” of customer support. Meanwhile, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff recently boasted about slashing 4,000 live agents from the company’s support team.
The OpenAI CEO’s recent predictions have, however, been met by an eyeroll from many industry professionals.
As Steve Blood, VP of Market Intelligence & Evangelism at Five9, cheekily said, “There have been plenty of books written on how to run companies. Does that mean we can get rid of CEOs, too?”