OpenAI Explains the Valueless Job
November 5, 2025
This essay is the work of a dumb dinobaby. No smart software required.
I spotted a Yahoo News story recycled from Futurism. The write up contains an allegedly true comment made by the outstanding professionals at OpenAI. “Sam Altman Says If Jobs Gets Wiped Out, Maybe They Weren’t Even “Real Work” to Start With” includes this statement but before I present it, I must remind you that the “new” Yahoo News is not the world champion of quickly resolving links. If you end up with a 404, contact the Yahooligans, not me. Now the quote:
… at OpenAI’s DevDay conference on Wednesday, Altman floated the idea that the work you do today, which might imminently be transformed or eliminated by AI, isn’t “real work.”
Let’s think about this.
First, work defines some people. If one’s work is valueless, that might annoy the people who do the work and enjoy it. Get enough of these people in one place and point out that they are valueless, and some excitement might ensue.
A large company values its individual employees. I know because the manager tells me so. Thanks, Venice ai. Good enough.
Second, when one questions the value of another person’s work, what does that reveal about the person making the assertion. Could it suggest a certain sense of superiority? Could that individual perceive the world as one of those wonky but often addled Greek gods? Could the individual have another type of mental issue?
Third, the idea that smart software, everything apps, Orbs, and World Networks will rule the world is not science fiction. OpenAI and his team are busy working to make this utopia happen. Are there other ideas about what online services should provide to farmers, for instance?
The cited article states:
“The thing about that farmer,” Altman said, is not only that they wouldn’t believe you, but “they very likely would look at what you do and I do and say, ‘that’s not real work.’” This, Altman said, makes him feel “a little less worried” but “more worried in some other ways.” “If you’re, like, farming, you’re doing something people really need,” Altman explained. “You’re making them food, you’re keeping them alive. This is real work.” But the farmer would see our modern jobs as “playing a game to fill your time,” and therefore not a “real job.” “It’s very possible that if we could see those jobs of the future,” Altman said, we’d think “maybe our jobs were not as real as a farmer’s job, but it’s a lot more real than this game you’re playing to entertain yourself.”
Sam AI-Man is a philosopher for our time. That’s a high value job, right. I think obtaining investment dollars to build smart software is a real job. It is much more useful than doing a valueless job like farming. You eat, don’t you, Sam?
Stephen E Arnold, November 5, 2025
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