"Should we just work like two or three days a week?”
As AI continues to reshape the workforce, many Gen Z college graduates are discovering that a degree no longer guarantees a smooth career launch.
Now, even OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, one of Silicon Valley’s leading figures driving the AI revolution, has admitted the harsh truth: AI will eliminate some jobs entirely.
Despite the warning, Altman insists the coming decade could be the most exciting time in history to start a career, especially for anyone dreaming of working in space.
Not only could graduates land sky-high salaries, but Altman says they will also “be feeling so bad for you and I that we had to do this really boring, old work and everything is just better”.
He added: “In 2035, that graduating college student, if they still go to college at all, could very well be leaving on a mission to explore the solar system on a spaceship in some completely new, exciting, super well-paid, super interesting job.”
While the extent of space exploration remains uncertain, NASA aims to reach Mars in the 2030s, demand for aerospace engineers is already growing faster than the national average, according to the US Bureau of Labour Statistics.
Aerospace roles offer annual salaries exceeding $130,000.
Other tech leaders have predictions grounded on Earth that still offer big incentives to workers.
Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates suggested earlier this year that AI might dramatically reduce the workweek, as humans will no longer be needed “for most things”.
Gates asked Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show earlier in 2025:
“What will jobs be like? Should we just work like two or three days a week?”
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said AI has already given his employees “superhuman” skills, a trend he expects to continue.
Huang said: “I’m surrounded by superhuman people and super intelligence, from my perspective, because they’re the best in the world at what they do.
“And they do what they do way better than I can do it. And I’m surrounded by thousands of them.
Yet it never one day caused me to think, all of a sudden, I’m no longer necessary.”
Altman acknowledged that the future of AI remains unclear but admitted he is envious of Gen Z professionals starting their careers today.
He said: “If I were 22 right now and graduating college, I would feel like the luckiest kid in all of history.”
Following the launch of OpenAI’s ChatGPT-5, Altman described the technology as putting a “team of PhD-level experts” right in one’s pocket.
He said this makes it easier than ever for an individual to launch a business that once required “hundreds” of people.
Altman continued: “It is probably possible now to start a company, that is a one-person company that will go on to be worth more than a billion dollars, and more importantly than that, deliver an amazing product and service to the world, and that is like a crazy thing.”
Billionaire Mark Cuban has also predicted that AI could create unprecedented wealth, possibly challenging Elon Musk as the world’s richest person.
He said: “We haven’t seen the best or the craziest of what [AI is] going to be able to do.
“And not only do I think it’ll create a trillionaire, but it could be just one dude in the basement. That’s how crazy it could be.”
As AI transforms industries, experts warn some jobs will disappear, but for Gen Z, it may also be the most thrilling and lucrative period to launch a career.
Loading ...