Ask HN: Does Sam Altman know how to code?
6 comments
Altman is not a technical savant—according to many in his orbit, he lacks extensive expertise in coding or machine learning. Multiple engineers recalled him misusing or confusing basic technical terms. He built OpenAI, in large part, by harnessing other people’s money and technical talent.
Does it matter?
He's the CEO. His job is to sell AI vision. I personally think AI will be the biggest consumer thing, like mobile phones.
There's a huge engineering market there for the nerds, and the output is a cool user experience.
He's the CEO. His job is to sell AI vision. I personally think AI will be the biggest consumer thing, like mobile phones.
There's a huge engineering market there for the nerds, and the output is a cool user experience.
Related discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47711964
It is a bit wild to me as how/why it is flagged.
I doubt the question you want answered is, "Does Sam Altman know how to code?" The simple answer is: he has written code at some point in his life and at some basic level he knows "how to code" but probably hasn't coded anything significant at any of the companies he's lead. It's very likely he hasn't written any code at all since he left Stanford.
Altman isn't some kind of tech-CEO genius that's personally coding new AI models overnight and then surprising the world the next day with a generational improvement in model capability. That's Tony Stark. He's a fictional character.
Elon Musk, Sam Altman, Sam Bankman-Fried, Elizabeth Holmes, and Steve Jobs are not technically minded geniuses. They aren't autistic savants. They're extremely persuasive, socially minded geniuses who are happy to use their social skills to manipulate anyone and everyone to get more money and power. Their super power isn't solving engineering problems, it's getting people excited and onboard with their "vision" -- everyone from investors, to a board of directors, to the public.
Part of their manipulation is cultivating an image of being a technically minded genius. They want you to believe they're a real life Tony Stark, but the reality is they're much more like Joel Osteen or Kenneth Copeland.
Altman isn't some kind of tech-CEO genius that's personally coding new AI models overnight and then surprising the world the next day with a generational improvement in model capability. That's Tony Stark. He's a fictional character.
Elon Musk, Sam Altman, Sam Bankman-Fried, Elizabeth Holmes, and Steve Jobs are not technically minded geniuses. They aren't autistic savants. They're extremely persuasive, socially minded geniuses who are happy to use their social skills to manipulate anyone and everyone to get more money and power. Their super power isn't solving engineering problems, it's getting people excited and onboard with their "vision" -- everyone from investors, to a board of directors, to the public.
Part of their manipulation is cultivating an image of being a technically minded genius. They want you to believe they're a real life Tony Stark, but the reality is they're much more like Joel Osteen or Kenneth Copeland.
But think deeply based on his activity sama