Sam Altman says people may someday “buy intelligence on a meter” like electricity or water and critics say the vision sounds more dystopian than innovative.

Sam Altman says OpenAI wants to sell intelligence like a utility

During a recent appearance at BlackRock in Washington, D.C., OpenAI’s Sam Altman, shared his vision for the future of AI. At one point saying, “We see a future where intelligence is a utility, like electricity or water, and people buy it from us on a meter.”

Altman was describing a world where AI becomes a foundational infrastructure, something woven into everyday life so deeply that consumers and businesses simply “plug into” it the same way they rely on electricity, Wi-Fi or running water.

  • Echo Dot@feddit.ukEnglish
    13·
    23 hours ago

    It also means there’s nothing unique about their AI that couldn’t be replicated by someone else.

    He’s basically selling bottled tap water, you can get the same thing by just going into your kitchen. There is no actual product.

    • zarkanian@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
      1·
      8 hours ago

      Oh, of course. It’s all lowest-common-denominator, mediocre bullshit. If they could come up with something unique, that would be actual intelligence.

      If you want to test this out, try asking for “novel” or “unusual” output. It’s still derivative, but perhaps just a little bit less derivative than standard output.