OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has opened up about fatherhood, describing it as “the most important and meaningful thing” he has ever done, while warning that declining birth rates pose a significant threat to the future of society.
Speaking on People by WTF with Nikhil Kamath, Altman said he believes artificial general intelligence (AGI) — the still-theoretical form of AI capable of reasoning as well as humans — could play a pivotal role in reversing population decline by creating a world of abundance and social support that makes raising families easier.
Altman, who became a father earlier this year, said he strongly recommends having children. “It felt like the most important and meaningful and fulfilling thing I could imagine doing,” he said, describing himself as “extremely kid-pilled.”
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He added that he hopes that in a “post-AGI world,” family and community would become more central to human happiness. “I think it’s pretty clear that family and community are two of the things that make us the happiest, and I hope we will turn back to that,” Altman said.
He also suggested that the rise of AGI could address the economic anxieties driving younger generations to delay parenthood. In countries like the United States, millennials and Gen Z are having fewer children due to financial instability, housing pressures, and career priorities. Altman envisions a future where AI-driven abundance creates “more time, more resources, and potential, and ability” to support family life.
His remarks touch on a broader debate that has been intensifying among economists, demographers, and technologists: can AI solve the looming demographic crisis?
Birth rates are falling in much of the developed world. In the U.S., the fertility rate is well below the replacement level of 2.1 births per woman. Similar or even more acute declines are seen in Europe, South Korea, and Japan. These shifts raise fears of shrinking workforces, underfunded pension systems, and weaker economic growth in the decades ahead. Traditionally, governments have responded with pro-family incentives such as tax breaks, parental leave policies, and subsidized childcare — but the results have been modest.
Some futurists argue that AI, particularly when advanced into AGI, could help offset these demographic challenges by transforming the workforce. As populations age, AI-powered automation could take over jobs in manufacturing, logistics, and even care work, allowing smaller populations to maintain high productivity. For example, in Japan, where population decline is most severe, robots and AI systems are already being deployed in eldercare facilities to compensate for labor shortages.
Altman’s framing adds another layer: not just AI as a replacement for missing workers, but as a force that could give people the material security and free time to build families again. This intersects with his long-held belief that AI will unlock unprecedented prosperity — an idea closely tied to discussions around universal basic income (UBI), which Altman has also publicly supported as a way to redistribute wealth created by automation.
However, critics caution that AI cannot directly solve the problem of human underpopulation. Even if automation reduces the need for large workforces, an aging society still struggles with social vitality and cultural sustainability.
Elon Musk, who shares Altman’s concern and has fathered more than 10 children, put it bluntly in a 2022 post on X: “A collapsing birth rate is the biggest danger civilization faces by far.” Musk has argued that no amount of automation can substitute for the decline in human creativity, dynamism, and innovation that comes with shrinking populations.
Still, Altman’s optimism reflects a growing belief among tech leaders that AI could be part of the solution. Some believe that by increasing productivity, reducing costs, and offering new social support structures, AGI could ease the financial and social burdens that currently discourage younger generations from having children.