Why Sam Altman's Kids wont be going to college?

he rapid rise of artificial intelligence (AI) is reshaping how we think about education, work, and the future. In a candid conversation, Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, shared his provocative views on why traditional college may not be the best path for his child—or for many others—in an AI-driven world.

Drawing from his own experience as a college dropout, Altman envisions a future where education evolves dramatically, and adaptability, not degrees, defines success.

Below, we dive into his insights on the future of learning, work, and societal structures in the age of AI.

The End of Traditional Education?

Altman, who famously left college halfway through, doesn’t see traditional higher education as the default path for his child. “Probably not,” he responds when asked if his child will go to college, adding, “I only went to half of college... It worked out fine.”

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He points to a lineage of tech pioneers—Mark Zuckerberg, Steve Wozniak, and others—who also dropped out, suggesting that formal education isn’t always the key to achievement. For Altman, the current college system is already faltering for many, and in 18 years, “it’s going to look like a very, very different thing.”

Why the skepticism? Altman sees AI fundamentally altering how we learn and work. He compares the current technological shift to past revolutions, like the advent of computers, which his generation took for granted while their parents struggled to adapt.

‍“My kid will never ever be smarter than an AI... They’ll never know a world where products and services aren’t way smarter than them and super capable,” he explains. In this world, memorizing facts—already devalued by tools like Google—becomes even less relevant.

‍“Why do you have to memorize history facts in history class if you can just look them up instantly on the internet? ... With these new tools, you can think better, come up with new ideas, do new stuff,” he argues.

Education, Altman predicts, will shift toward fostering creativity, critical thinking, and adaptability.

Preparing Kids for an AI-Driven Future

When it comes to preparing children for a world dominated by AI, Altman is optimistic about their resilience.

‍“I actually think the kids will be fine. I’m worried about the parents,” he says, noting that younger generations have always adapted to new technologies with ease. He recalls a viral video of a child swiping at a magazine like a “broken iPad,” illustrating how intuitive tech adoption is for those born into it.

‍“People that grow up with it, they’re always fluent. They always figure out what to do,” he observes.

Yet, Altman isn’t without concerns. He worries about the impact of addictive technologies, like short-form video content, on young minds.

‍“This scrolling, the kind of short video feed dopamine hit, it feels like it’s probably messing with kids’ brain development in a super deep way,” he cautions. Despite this, he trusts that kids will master AI tools naturally, just as they’ve embraced touchscreens and the internet.

The Future of Work: Reinvention Over Obsolescence

Altman also addresses how AI will reshape careers, using historians as an example. While he doubts the traditional role of a historian will persist unchanged—“Does the current job of a historian exist in the same way? I would bet not quite”—he believes human curiosity will ensure its evolution.

‍“Humans are obsessed with other people... We are so deeply wired to care about stories and history, our own history is extremely interesting to us. So I would say somehow or other we’re still going to care about that. There’s going to be some kind of job doing that,” he predicts.

He emphasizes that predicting future jobs is tricky, as roles like his own (CEO of an AI company) or modern influencers were unimaginable a century ago.

‍“The job that young people most want is to be a podcast influencer, a YouTube channel... And a lot of people also want my job. They want to do a startup or they want to work on AI. And these just didn’t exist,” he notes.

Altman sees AI as a catalyst for new opportunities, even as it disrupts old ones, dismissing fears that it will “close the history book” or render creativity obsolete. “People used to say... there’s no need for more music, we’ve made perfect music... Everything that humans ever possibly need has been invented, there’s nothing left to do. And here we are,” he quips.

Economic Shifts and a New Social Contract

The economic implications of AI are a key concern, and Altman grapples with how society might adapt. He envisions two scenarios. In one, AI tools are democratized, enabling widespread productivity and wealth creation.

‍“Everybody gets to use it... And it turns out even getting to use it is enough that people are getting richer faster and more distributed than ever before,” he suggests. In another, where wealth concentrates among AI developers, he anticipates societal pushback.

‍“Society will very quickly say, ‘Okay, we got to have some new economic model where we share that and distribute that to people,’” he predicts.

Altman is lukewarm on universal basic income (UBI), which he once championed. “I used to be really excited about things like UBI... I still am kind of excited about that. But I think people really need agency,” he says. Instead, he proposes “universal basic wealth,” where individuals have an ownership stake in AI-driven progress.

‍“What I would want is like an ownership share in whatever the AI creates so that I feel like I’m participating in this thing that’s going to compound and get more valuable over time,” he explains. This model, he argues, would give people a sense of purpose and investment in the future.

Embracing a Future of Possibility

Altman’s vision is one of optimism tempered by pragmatism. He sees AI not as a threat but as a “fast-forward button” on human progress, unlocking new possibilities even as it challenges existing structures.

‍“Someone asked me the other day... how long is it until you can make an AI CEO for OpenAI. And I was like, probably not that long. And they were like, well, aren’t you really sad about that? And I was like, no, I think it’s awesome. I’m for sure going to figure out something else to do,” he says, embodying a mindset of reinvention.

For Altman, the story of AI is part of humanity’s broader arc of progress. “I think it’s great that those people in the past think we have it so easy. I think it’s great that we think those people in the future have it so easy. Like that is the beautiful story of us all contributing to human progress and everybody’s lives getting better and better,” he reflects.

By skipping college for his child, Altman isn’t rejecting education but embracing a future where learning and work are redefined by creativity, adaptability, and shared prosperity.

As we navigate this AI-driven world, Altman’s insights challenge us to rethink education, embrace change, and ensure that the benefits of progress are shared widely. The question isn’t whether college is necessary—it’s how we prepare for a future where human potential, not credentials, defines success.