‘Listening to old people is the biggest mistake young people make’: Sam Altman advice to IIT Delhi students

Addressing at IIT Delhi, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman warned the students that blindly following career advice from parents could be a mistake in the near future. Emphasising on the role of AI in the coming era, he also said that some job profiles will vanish due to the evolving AI technology.  

Altman advised young minds that one has to decide within themselves what they want to do and not rely mostly on other advice from their elders.  

“I think listening to old people is the biggest mistake young people make. You will have to quickly develop your own intuitions and trust them. The traditional career advice is probably not going to work as well,” Altman said while responding to a question about the biggest mistake young people make.

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Wise advice from Sam Altman for young people

Especially in a society like India that fosters the exact opposite culture !

True not just for AI but all walks of life :) pic.twitter.com/ERk4FnGaJN

— Praveen Chakravarty (@pravchak) February 24, 2026

‘Young people always figure out best’

After delivering the remark at the Dogra Hall, he later clarified that parents are the guiding light for life values, but not necessarily for career choices in fast-changing times. Hence, he warned students relying on the older generation to predict the future of work.  

“For a predictor of what the world is going to be like going forward, I don’t think you should trust me for having a good intuition of the rate of change,” he said. He further added, “Young people always figure this out the best."

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‘AI will automate economy ‘

Altman also warned students that AI will not only automate scientific progress but also the ‘whole economy’.

While answering a question on what India would look like in 2047 when the country completes 100 years of independence, Altman said that the first thing will be that the coming generation will have ‘superintelligence’ at their fingertips, which would mean that his one-year-old would never ‘know a world where he was smarter than a computer ever’.

Agency is a learnable skill

During his entire speech, the OpenAI Chief stressed at the importance of belief within oneself which individuals can make for themselves which he called out “agency.”  

“Agency is also a learnable skill,” he said. “The world kind of beats it out of you. So you have to resist and continue to believe that you can sort of figure anything out and make anything happen."

He called out the evolving time, outlining the growing use of technology which the older generation is not much aware of adding that quality has become more valuable than ever.

“The returns on agency clearly have never been higher. A single person with drive and an idea and willpower can make incredible things happen,” Altman added.  

Evolution of OpenAI 

Altman also described his early days of OpenAI, and how its development took place which was seen as unrealistic. “If you are right on the idea, no matter how unpopular it is - in fact, it’s often better to be unpopular because you have no one else you are competing with and you stick with unwavering conviction over a long time, you can accomplish amazing things,” he said.

Urged students to take risk

Altman encouraged the students to take risks and engage in new and different ideas which most people do not indulge much in.  

“Most people, especially in India, are especially averse to risk,” he said. “My willingness to fail allows me to succeed."  

During a rapid-fire round when asked to name one skill every IIT student should build this year, his answer was brief and emphatic - “Resilience."

On the debate about AI taking over most of the jobs, Altman said it was unrealistic to be either fully optimistic or fully fearful.

“Anyone who says they’re only excited or only fearful about AI is not being very thoughtful,” he said. “History suggests new roles will emerge faster than expected. Many of you will eventually do jobs that don’t exist today, even really as a concept,” he told the students.  

Altman emphasised original thinking and pursuing ideas others haven’t explored. He believes stepping beyond familiar patterns is what separates individuals from the crowd and creates real impact.