Altman Admits AI Disruption of Software Industry Is Slower Than Expected
Nashnova编辑部
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman concedes that GPT-4's disruption of the software industry has been far slower than he anticipated, held back by economic inertia and deeply ingrained human habits — raising questions about whether the market has mispriced the speed of AI-driven software displacement.
What exactly did Altman say?
Altman originally expected GPT-4 to rapidly upend the software industry, but real-world progress has lagged due to economic inertia.
He acknowledged that the industry's consensus on AI transformation speed was too aggressive — the actual shift will be "slower and steadier."
This means → even the most central figure pushing AI forward is revising down his own disruption timeline. This is not a retreat — it is a recalibration of pace.
Why hasn't even he changed his own habits?
Altman cited himself as an example: despite having Codex — OpenAI's AI coding tool — he still defaults to twenty-year-old workflows in daily practice.
In plain terms = he has the best tools in the world, yet his muscle memory won't cooperate. There is a clear gap between what he knows and what he does.
This reflects something deeper than a technology problem: human behavioral inertia is the real bottleneck. People change habits far more slowly than technology iterates.
What does this mean for markets?
The timeline for AI's structural disruption of the software industry needs reassessment — not whether it arrives, but how much later than expected.
Whether the market has already fully priced in a fast-disruption scenario deserves scrutiny.
This means → if the disruption pace slows, valuation pressure on traditional software companies may be less urgent than feared, while near-term premiums on AI-concept stocks will need a longer runway of earnings delivery to hold up.
Content is for reference only, not financial advice.