Sam Altman: AI Agents Functioning Like Junior Colleagues

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman highlighted the potential of AI to “discover new knowledge,” suggesting it increasingly functions like junior-level coworkers. During the Snowflake Summit 2025, he emphasized that professionals are now assigning tasks to AI agents and evaluating their outputs much like managing a team of junior employees. Altman predicts that within a year, AI agents will help solve non-trivial business problems. This conversation coincides with research showing AI replacing human workers, with significant declines in AI-related job postings. Economist Zanele Munyikwa noted a 19% drop in AI-doable tasks over three years, with some vulnerable roles seeing declines as steep as 31%. Companies like Shopify and Duolingo are visibly adjusting hiring practices to justify roles against AI capabilities. Additionally, OpenAI recently released GPT-4.5 and Codex, which streamline tasks, with Codex already being utilized by OpenAI engineers for coding assistance.

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