OpenAI CEO Sam Altman made his first appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, offering a mix of humor, personal stories, and reflections on how artificial intelligence is reshaping everyday life, including his own experience as a new parent.
During the interview, Altman confessed that despite having access to vast resources, he relies heavily on ChatGPT to navigate the confusing waters of fatherhood. He noted that while parents have raised children successfully for millennia without chatbots, he personally finds it indispensable.
“I cannot imagine having gone through, figuring out how to raise a newborn without ChatGPT,” Altman told Fallon.
He shared a story about a moment of panic at a party. After another parent mentioned their six-month-old was already crawling “everywhere,” Altman realized his own son, who is older, wasn’t crawling yet. He excused himself to the restroom to consult the AI.
“I ran to the bathroom and I was like, ‘Do I need to take my kid to the doctor tomorrow morning? Is this okay?'” Altman recounted.
He noted that the chatbot didn’t just provide generic medical information. It offered advice tailored to his high-pressure, specific lifestyle. According to Altman, the AI reminded him that as a CEO surrounded by high-achieving people, he might be projecting unrealistic standards onto his baby and that he should “relax.”
Altman compares rise of AI to advent of smartphones
Beyond diapers and developmental milestones, Altman spoke about his broader vision for technology as a tool for fairness. He compared the rise of AI to the debut of the smartphone, suggesting that the best technology shouldn’t be reserved for the elite.
“The richest, most powerful person in the world got the same piece of hardware that, you know, billions of other people got,” Altman said, referencing the iPhone.
He argued that AI is moving in the same direction, providing access to top-tier intelligence for everyone, not just those who can afford expensive consultants. “It is a sort of equalizing force in many ways,” he added.
The interview also touched on the rapid pace of AI development. Altman noted that while the technology is only three years old, it has been adopted faster than any other technology in history. Looking ahead, he predicted that these models’ capabilities will shift beyond solving math problems to tackling global health crises.
When asked what he expects to see in the next five years, Altman was optimistic about the medical field. “In five years, I hope they’re curing diseases,” he said.
While the interview may have stayed light, Altman’s week was anything but: Altman recently declared a “code red” in a memo, urging employees to sharpen their focus on ChatGPT as competitors, especially Google, accelerate their own AI progress.
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