Sam Altman '03 & the Future of AI

Tech entrepreneur Sam Altman ’03 returned to Burroughs to speak in assembly on Friday, September 13. Sam most recently visited Burroughs last fall, when he was honored with the Alumni Association’s Outstanding Alum Award in conjunction with the Centennial Finale celebration.

During Friday’s assembly, Sam was introduced by Naomi Sherman '25 and interviewed by a trio of JBS seniors, Travis Ning '25, Margot LaVigne '25, and Dalton Harrold '25, about the rapidly evolving landscape of artificial intelligence (in particular, his company’s revolutionary chatbot, ChatGPT) and the profound societal impact it will have. 

Sam’s visit came on the heels of several high-profile events, including an ABC interview with Oprah Winfrey; a trip to Washington, D.C., where he met with administration officials at the White House about the need for more AI infrastructure in the United States; and, just one day prior, the launch of OpenAI o1, a new model of ChatGPT with reasoning capabilities. 

“I’m really happy to be here today,” Sam told students, faculty, and staff. “This is the first time I’ve gotten to speak about our new launch, and I really wanted it to be here, because the computer science lab here is where I really started thinking about working on AI someday.”

Over 25 minutes, Sam fielded a number of questions about the role of AI in education, how students can prepare for a rapidly changing world, and what he’s learned about leadership at a company “on the edge of the edge of discovery.” He also shared some words of wisdom about seizing opportunities when they come along — even when they seem risky or like a step off the traditional path.

“Most things are not a one-way door,” he said. “You can try something; if it doesn’t work out, you can undo it and try something else. So I think in what is now a very dynamic world, the risky thing is to not go try that thing that might really work out. And then you look back on your career 10, 20, 30 years later, and you say, man, I wish I had tried the thing that I really wanted to try.”

Sam's full conversation with students is posted below. The conversation continued after assembly with various classes and student groups, including the bioethics class, honors English students, the Current Events club, the Philosophy Club, the AI Club, and members of The World.