Public transcript

Sam Altman Says Technology Is the Greatest Equalizing Force in Society | The Tonight Show

By: The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
Length: 8 min
Language: American English
Text from: the video's captions
Transcribed: 12 October 2026

Read the full transcript Open on YouTube

Notes in English.

Summary

Sam Altman, co-founder of OpenAI, joins Jimmy Fallon to talk about ChatGPT three years after its launch. He explains what ChatGPT is, shares how he uses it as a new parent, and argues that technology like the iPhone and AI can be an equalizing force in society. He also discusses his worries about the pace of change and his hopes that AI will make scientific discoveries and cure diseases within five years.

Key points

Sam Altman describes ChatGPT as an AI chatbot that has gotten much smarter over three years and now serves as a general-purpose life adviser.
Altman says people use ChatGPT for healthcare advice, learning, work, and even to figure out what tests to ask a doctor for.
Altman and his husband have an eight-month-old baby, and he says he cannot imagine raising a newborn without ChatGPT.
Altman compares AI to the iPhone as an equalizing force, since the richest person gets the same hardware and now the same AI answers as everyone else.
His main worry is the rate of change: no technology has ever been adopted this fast, and jobs may change over very quickly.
He says society has integrated AI thoughtfully so far, but everyone is still feeling their way through it.
Altman hopes AI is never 'perfected,' because humanity's drive to improve should keep going forever.
He hopes models will make small scientific discoveries next year and be curing diseases within five years.

Questions it answers

00:00What is ChatGPT?

What is ChatGPT and what can it do?

Altman describes it as an AI chatbot that answers questions and has gotten much smarter over three years. People use it for healthcare advice, learning, work, and life advice.

ChatGPT is described as a general-purpose life adviser.
Users report getting health answers that led to cures.
Altman says he hasn't found anything he can't learn with it.

01:11New baby and parenting with ChatGPT

How does Sam Altman use ChatGPT as a new parent?

Altman and his husband have an eight-month-old son, and Altman says he cannot imagine raising a newborn without ChatGPT. When he worried his six-month-old wasn't crawling, ChatGPT reassured him it was normal and even personalized the advice.

His son is eight months old and loves trucks and cars.
Altman relied heavily on ChatGPT for newborn advice.
ChatGPT's personalized answer told him to relax and not project high-achieving standards onto his kid.

04:06Technology as an equalizer

Why does Altman think technology is an equalizing force?

He compares AI to the iPhone, where the richest person got the same hardware as billions of others. ChatGPT gives everyone access to the same quality answers that rich people get from top doctors and lawyers.

AI should give everyone the same access to expert-level answers.
Altman says it will take work to ensure AI stays an equalizing force.
He acknowledges technology has downsides but sees this as a major upside.

04:58Concerns about AI

What worries Sam Altman about ChatGPT?

His main concern is the rate of change, since no technology has ever been adopted this fast. Jobs may change over quickly, and society could get the introduction of AI wrong, though he thinks things have gone well so far.

The same technology that could cure diseases can be used negatively.
Altman hopes new and better jobs will emerge.
He says society has done a thoughtful job mitigating downsides so far.

06:21The future of AI

What does Altman expect from AI in the coming years?

He hopes AI is never perfected because humanity's drive to improve should continue forever. Models now generate their own information by thinking harder, and he hopes for scientific discoveries next year and disease cures within five years.

In 2025, models went from basic math to beating top mathematicians at competitions.
Models can now think harder and come up with new information.
Altman hopes AI will be curing diseases within five years.

Notes

What ChatGPT Is

Sam Altman describes ChatGPT as an AI chatbot: you ask a question and it tells you what to do.
It started out doing little more than Google Search, but over three years it has become much smarter.
People now use it for healthcare advice, learning, work, and life advice — Altman calls it a "general-purpose sort of life adviser."

Pros of ChatGPT

Altman says many people report putting symptoms into ChatGPT, learning what test to ask their doctor for, and getting cured.
He says you can learn pretty much anything with it, do work faster, and use it instead of Google.

Using ChatGPT as a New Parent

Altman and his husband have an eight-month-old son who loves trucks and cars; they even watched the F1 season finale together.
Altman says he cannot imagine raising a newborn without ChatGPT, though he jokes he feels bad asking it simple questions.
After a party conversation made him worry his six-month-old wasn't crawling, ChatGPT reassured him it was normal and even personalized its answer, noting he's the C.E.O. of OpenAI and shouldn't project high-achieving standards onto his kid.

Technology as an Equalizing Force

Fallon notes Altman's point that rich people have great doctors, lawyers, and business managers, while ChatGPT gives everyone access to the same quality of answers.
Altman compares it to the iPhone: the most powerful person in the world had the same hardware as billions of others.
He says it will take work to ensure AI pushes in this direction, but it should be a good force for society.

Cons and Concerns

Altman's biggest worry is the rate of change: no technology has ever been adopted this fast.
The same general-purpose system that could cure diseases can be used negatively, and jobs may change over quickly.
He believes society has done a thoughtful job mitigating downsides so far, but everyone is still feeling their way through it.

The Future

Altman hopes AI is never "perfected" because humanity's drive to improve should continue forever.
Models now generate much of their own information by thinking harder, similar to how people build on past experiences.
In 2025, models went from doing a little math to beating the best mathematicians at difficult competitions.
Next year he hopes for small-but-important scientific discoveries; in five years, he hopes AI is curing diseases.

Text from the video's own captions. Summary and notes written by AI from the transcript, so check anything important against the recording.