--- title: "Sam Altman Says AI Will Be Like a Super Smart Person Who “Knows Absolutely Everything” About Your Life" description: "The AI of the future won't just be a chatbot — it will be, according to OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, the world's most knowledgeable assistant. " date: "2024-05-06" modified: "2024-05-06" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/sam-altman-future-ai-knows-everything" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" - "OpenAI" tags: - "gpt-5" - "OpenAI" - "sam altman" - "the digest" --- # Sam Altman Says AI Will Be Like a Super Smart Person Who “Knows Absolutely Everything” About Your Life ![The AI of the future won't just be a chatbot — it will be, according to OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, the world's most knowledgeable assistant. ]() *\Image: Justin Sullivan via Getty / Futurism\* ## Yes, Chef The AI of the future won't just be a chatbot — it'll be, according to OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, outfitted with incredibly detailed information about its users. In an [interview with the *MIT Technology Review*](), Altman suggested that AI should be working for its users harder than even the hardest-working human executive assistant, and would know absolutely everything about whoever is using it. Speaking to the magazine between a series of events at Harvard, which were hosted in part by the venture capital firm Xfund, the OpenAI cofounder said that the best use of AI would be a "super-competent colleague that knows absolutely everything about my whole life, every email, every conversation I’ve ever had, but doesn’t feel like an extension." Obviously AI isn't there yet. In the same interview, Altman referred to ChatGPT as "incredibly dumb," and in a separate [interview with *The Harvard Crimson*](), promised that GPT-5, his firm's highly-anticipated update to its large language model (LLM), would not be. "The most important thing to say about GPT-5 versus GPT-4 is just that it’ll be smarter," the Stanford dropout told the Harvard student paper. "It’s not that it’s better in this way or that way." "The fact that we can make progress across all model behavior and capabilities at once — I think that’s the miracle," he continued. ## Expectations vs. Reality As has been evident for a while now, talking a big game about the future of AI is very much a part of Altman's job description. In the roughly 18 months since OpenAI unleashed ChatGPT upon the world, he's repeatedly discussed his fears of [how badly things could go awry]() with the technology while insisting his company is [creating the lesser of AI evils](). Within a few months of the release of GPT-4 in March 2023, however, expectations had begun bucking up against reality — which Altman, to his credit, now jokes about. "I think it’s awesome that for two weeks, everybody was freaking out about ChatGPT-4, and then by the third week, everyone was like, 'Come on, where’s GPT-5?'" Altman quipped [during a discussion]() with MIT president Sally Kornbluth soon after his Harvard talks. "I think that says something legitimately great about human expectation and striving and why we all have to make things better." As always, the CEO remained cryptic about when exactly [GPT-5 might be dropping](), refusing to provide a timeline. As *MIT* *Tech* notes, he responded to a reporter's question about when GPT-5 would be released during his Cambridge press tour by simply saying "yes." **More on Altman:** [*Sam Altman Is Running Out of Orbs*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()