- OpenAI chairman and startup founder Bret Taylor is optimistic about the future of AI and its impact on productivity, even if he worries it may redefine what a computer programmer is. He noted AI is like an “Iron Man suit” for workers and is already affecting programming, with more changes and a tough transition to come for those affected.
Over two decades, Bret Taylor has helped develop some of the most important technologies in the world, including Google Maps, but it’s AI that he says has brought about a new inflection point for society that could, as a side effect, do away with his own job.
In an interview on the Acquired podcast published this week, Taylor noted that despite his success as a tech executive, which includes stints as co-CEO of Salesforce, chief technology officer at Facebook (now Meta), and now chairman of OpenAI, he prefers to identify as a computer programmer.
Yet with AI’s ability to streamline programming and even replace some software-development tasks and workers, he wonders if computer programmers in general will go the way of the original “computers,” humans who once were charged with math calculations before the age of electronic calculators.
Taylor said the anguish over his identity as a programmer comes from the fact that AI is such a productivity booster, it’s as if everyone who uses it were wearing a super suit.
“The thing I self-identify with [being a computer programmer] is, like, being obviated by this technology. So it’s like, the reason why I think these tools are being embraced so quickly is they truly are like an Iron Man suit for all of us as individuals,” he said.
He added this era of early AI development will later be seen as “an inflection point in society and technology,” and just as important as the invention of the internet was in the 20th century.
Because of AI’s productivity-boosting abilities, Taylor has made sure to incorporate it heavily in his own startup, Sierra, which he cofounded in 2023. He noted that it’s doubtful an employee is being as productive as they could be if they’re not using AI tools.
“You want people to sort of adopt these tools because they want to, and you sort of need to … ‘voluntell’ them to do it, too. You know, it’s like, ‘I don’t think we can succeed as a company if we’re not the poster child for automation and everything that we do,’” he said.
AI isn’t just software, Taylor said, and he believes the technology will upend the internet and beyond. While he’s optimistic about an AI future, Taylor noted the deep changes posed by the tech may take some getting used to, especially for the people whose jobs are being upended by AI, which includes computer programmers like himself.
“You’re going to have this period of transition where it’s saying, like, ‘How I’ve come to identify my own worth, either as a person or as an employee, has been disrupted.’ That’s very uncomfortable. And that transition isn’t always easy,” he said.