OpenAI's Sam Altman Proposes 'Universal Basic Compute' as AI Job Threat Looms

At a recent podcast appearance, OpenAI's CEO Sam Altman discussed "universal basic compute," a radical idea that aims to change how we interact with AI technology.

UBI to Universal Basic Compute: Altman's New Proposal

In a recent episode of the All-In podcast, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman discussed "universal basic compute," a new and advanced concept to address financial challenges. Altman suggests a future where individuals receive access to a portion of GPT -7's compute, enabling them to utilize, sell, or donate it for various purposes, such as cancer research.

How GPT-7 Could Transform Economic Models and Job Markets

Ownership of a colossal language model unit such as GPT-7 is supposed to become more valuable than money as AI advances and gets more integrated into our daily lives. "You own like part of the productivity," he stated.

For some time now, Altman has advocated for implementing a universal basic income, which would be a fixed monthly payment to all individuals in a given population, irrespective of their financial situation or job status. Like many in the tech sector, Altman believes workers would benefit from a universal basic income since AI will eventually replace many occupations, Business Insider reports.

Evaluating the Success of Basic Income Experiments

In 2016, Altman embarked on his own UBI experiment, a precursor to his current "universal basic compute" proposal. He shared on the show that the results of this experiment would be made public soon. As per Fortune, the initiative provided more than 3,000 participants with payouts ranging from $50 to $1,000 monthly.

A type called "guaranteed basic income" has been tried in cities and states across the US. These programs give cash payments to people based on their proven need or social and societal status instead of to the whole community.

Most of these programs have been successful, but conservatives are becoming more against what they see as a form of welfare that could make people not want to work. The Texas Supreme Court recently stopped a program in the Houston area from giving $500 a month to low-income people.

Although Altman didn't explain how his "universal basic compute" would function, it's sure to cause some controversy.

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