Sam Altman Reveals New Vision: Universal Basic Compute Can Replace Universal Basic Income

JAKARTA - Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI and Chairman of Tools for Humanity, believes that advances in current frontier artificial intelligence (AI) models could lead to major restructuring in socioeconomics. Altman recently expressed his vision on the All-In podcast, where he suggested that treating "compute" as a resource and asset could replace monetary income as a way to provide universal (UBI) basic income.

During the interview, Altman discussed various topics, including the dangers of AI and how humanity will face threats ranging from AI-induced human extinction to job replacement. Regarding the threat of extinction, Altman acknowledged that it might be time for the AI model to be able to pose such a threat.

The solution is to form a global surveillance board that can organize the largest projects, thus allowing startups to thrive without being restricted by laws that might hinder growth.

"I think it will come in time, in the not too distant future, where an AI frontier system is capable of causing significant global harm. And, for such a system, I would like to see some kind of international body overseeing the most powerful system and ensuring reasonable safety testing," said Altman.

Altman assured the All-In team that the GPT-4, OpenAI's current state-of-the-art production model, does not pose a "significant" threat to human life.

In the field of work, Altman is known as a universal basic income (UBI) supporter. Apart from OpenAI, he also leads Tools for Humanity, a company whose main product is cryptocurrency and Worldcoin identity verification platform. Worldcoin is given to anyone willing to verify their humanity. After that, the holder receives a monthly token allowance.

Universal Basic Income (UBI) is an economic policy concept in which the government provides a regular amount of cash to all citizens unconditionally. The goal of UBI is to ensure that each individual has a minimum income that can be used to meet their basic needs such as food, shelter, and other necessities of life.

Speaking to the All-In team, Altman criticized the government's poverty relief program, which was largely ineffective and called for a simple and respectful approach to UBI.

"I don't really like how governments handle most policies designed to help the poor, and I kind of believe that if you can give people money, they will make good decisions, and the market will do its job," said Altman.

Altman also added that giving money to people is not going to solve all the problems, but might be able to solve some problems and give people better hope for helping themselves.

Regarding the reasons why he is so supportive of UBI, Altman said that he and his colleagues realized in 2016, when they started serious about AI, that AI could have a very broad impact. They started studies and found that UBI showed promise.

Now, Altman believes that the UBI paradigm itself may be ready for major changes. "2016 was a very long time ago. [...] I wonder if the future looks more like a universal base compound than a universal base income and everyone gets a piece of compute from GPT-7 that they can use, resell, or contribute to cancer research," said Altman.

With this vision, Altman opens up new possibilities in ways AI can affect human life and the global economic system.