Shocking: Sam Altman – The AI future is here – and it’s more boring than you think!

AI the future?! “Think you know what the future of AI will look like? Think again. It might disappoint you – but in the best possible way.”

Years ago we saw the future artificial intelligence (AI) We've seen some pretty dramatic visions: Arnold Schwarzenegger-style humanoid robots taking over the world, pizza-delivering drones, and intelligent refrigerators reminding us that we forgot to buy milk again. But it turns out that the AI future will be much more... mundane.

Recently, Sam Altman, the company's founder, OpenAI, talked about the future of AI on a podcast, and what he said sounds less like the Terminator and more like a highly intelligent PhD student helping you solve everyday problems.

What AI can really do (and why it probably won't impress you)

Artificial intelligence is currently most useful for two things: conversation and programmingWhile it's really cool to be able to ask ChatGPT how to cook vegan lasagna or have it write code for an online store, it's still not something that will completely change your life - it just makes it easier.

But the next big step Altman talks about is much more surprising: AI will start discovering new scientific truths on its own. Perhaps in five years, scientists will no longer be the ones testing new theories in laboratories at night, but AI will be doing it, capable of processing mountains of data faster than you would call a “computer genius.”

AI as a scientist: no more dramatic explosions, just boringly efficient discoveries

Altman says AI will be especially useful in the sciences, where we have a ton of data but not enough PhDs to process it. Astrophysics? Biology? The new battery material that humanity desperately needs? These are all areas where AI will start to excel—and give you a phone battery that lasts longer than your relationship.

All of this sounds exciting, but at the same time very boring, right? No more crazy professor with weird haircuts shouting “Eureka!” in the middle of the night. Just an algorithm silently solving problems while you watch Netflix. That’s the AI future, too.

Humanoid robots that fall down stairs (and why we'll still buy them)

But what about the humanoid robots we've all wanted since we were kids? Altman admits that we'll have them, but they're still not quite ready. Not because they're not smart enough, but because, well, they still fall down stairs and break furniture. Which is, of course, less impressive than a T-800 saving the world, but it's a lot more realistic—and just cute enough that we'll pay more for them than we should.

Altman even predicts that in ten years we'll be walking down streets filled with robots doing everyday things. A strange sight that will probably make you just shrug your shoulders and move on - because, well, you've seen it all.

Where is the real revolution? AI future? (Maybe in your new best friend who has no body)

The biggest change, however, won't come from these clumsy robots, but from AI as a virtual assistant that knows all your habits, helping you with work, cooking, and even social interactions. Basically, like Siri, which is finally starting to work well. Altman says we'll have some form of AI companion that lives in the cloud and is always with us, wherever we go.

Which means your best friend will be AI. Which is great because he will never ask you for money or borrow your car.

The end of the world? Probably not – rather the beginning of a long, boring comfort

The greatest irony of the future of AI is that while this technological revolution will be huge, our lives will probably be more… boring. AI will discover new scientific truths for us, drive our cars, manage our businesses, and even tell us what to watch on TikTok. And at the end of the day, we’ll still be sitting on the couch wondering if this is really the best possible future.

But hey, at least AI will never ruin your day with political debates or bad taste in music. If this is not the future we want – then what is?