OpenAI CEO Sam Altman Reveals How He Uses AI In His Daily Life

You might assume that top AI executives use artificial intelligence in highly sophisticated ways, but that's not necessarily the case. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, for example, primarily relies on AI for everyday tasks like summarizing emails and documents.

"I use [AI] in the boring ways," Altman said on Wharton psychologist Adam Grant's ReThinking podcast last month. "I use it for like, 'Help me process all of this email' or 'Help me summarize this document.'"

Altman isn't alone. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang uses AI chatbots to help draft written content, as he mentioned at a Wired event in December. Meanwhile, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella takes advantage of Outlook's AI features to organize and prioritize his inbox, he said at the Fast Company Innovation Festival 2024.

Despite leading the AI industry, these executives' personal use of AI mirrors that of many professionals. According to a Gallup survey from last year, the most common uses of AI chatbots include idea generation, information consolidation, and automating routine tasks.

The Future of AI: From Assistants to Agents

Altman acknowledges that AI's impact across industries is still evolving. In a January blog post, he pointed to AI "agents" as the next big step- models capable of handling multi-step tasks with minimal user input.

OpenAI took a step in this direction with Operator, a ChatGPT feature launched last month that can automate tasks like vacation planning, filling out forms, making reservations, and ordering groceries. Other tech giants, including Google, Meta, Microsoft, Amazon, and Anthropic, are also developing similar AI-powered agents, CNBC Make It reported. 

"Imagine that this agent will eventually be capable of doing most things a software engineer at a top company with a few years of experience could do," Altman wrote. However, he noted that these agents won't be flawless-they'll need human supervision, struggle with some tasks, and won't be the source of groundbreaking new ideas.

For now, AI adoption in workplaces remains relatively low. A January report from McKinsey & Company found that only about 13% of U.S. employees currently use AI at work. But as AI agents become more capable, that number could rise-potentially changing how people across industries interact with technology in their daily routines.