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- OpenAI's chief economist is teaching his kids skills to thrive in an AI-driven world.He said he emphasizes critical thinking, adaptability, emotional intelligence, and financial numeracy.Tech leaders are stressing the importance of AI education at home and in school.
OpenAI's chief economist says he spends a lot of time predicting which jobs will be most affected by AI.
To prepare for this world, Ronnie Chatterji is teaching his young children four skills — from critical thinking to math without calculators.
"You've gotta learn how to be a critical thinker and identify problems," Chatterji said in an episode of the OpenAI podcast published Tuesday.
The chief economist, who held senior economic policy positions in the Biden and Obama administrations, said that adaptability is the second skill he wants his children to build.
"You have to have the neuroplasticity, resilience, flexibility to be able to adapt because the world is going to change a lot," he said. "If you think about what's happening in AI, changes to our climate, changes to geopolitics, you're going to have to adapt a lot."
The third skill Chatterji said he is teaching his children is to have emotional intelligence, especially as AI begins to take over technical skills like coding.
"I can't think of a better set of skills to learn now than how to be a human because that's going to be sort of how you become a better complement for this amazing intelligence," he said.
He added that salespeople with deep technical knowledge and emotional intelligence will be key because they know how to "connect the dots" to solve problems.
A fourth skill Chatterji said he wants his children to have is "financial numeracy" and writing.
"My kids have calculators, but I still want to teach them how to do multiplication tables," he said. "Dictation software works really well. I still teach them how to write."
Still, it won't be possible to tell how much the world will change and where the next generation will work, he said.
"In terms of predicting what their job title is going to be, I don't think I have any more information than my parents did and and I think they're going to be OK," Chatterji said.
Preparing children for a world dominated by AI has become a common discussion among tech leaders.
In May, Reddit cofounder Alexis Ohanian said that he encourages his 7‑year‑old daughter to use AI every day, describing it as a "superpower."
Similar to Chatterji, he views AI as a tool to boost problem-solving, but said he still emphasizes reading, writing, and arithmetic.
Last month, OpenAI's CEO, Sam Altman, said that his kids won't be smarter than AI — and also won't be bothered that they aren't.
"My kids will never be smarter than AI," Altman said on the first episode of the OpenAI Podcast, released on Wednesday. "They will grow up vastly more capable than we grew up, and able to do things that we cannot imagine, and they'll be really good at using AI."
