‘It makes no sense’: Sam Altman calls his email habit ‘psychologically inconsistent’
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman discusses his struggle to break the habit of manually managing his email inbox despite having access to advanced AI automation tools. He describes this behavior as psychologically inconsistent, noting that he feels a sense of productivity from manual work even when it is inefficient.
Why it matters
It highlights the psychological barriers to AI adoption even among industry leaders, illustrating that human work habits often resist technological optimization.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman says he has access to AI tools that could help him deal with routine work, but he still finds himself going through emails manually. Speaking on David Senra's podcast, Sam Altman said his habit of scrolling through his inbox and deciding which email to open is difficult to explain, especially when AI tools could handle some of that work. He said his work style doesn't always match what he believes is the most productive use of his time, calling the habit “psychologically inconsistent.”Sam Altman says manually reading emails feels like workDuring the podcast, Sam Altman said he still defaults to handling emails himself, even with tools such as OpenAI's Codex available to help with tasks on a computer.
Get smarter about the news
Sign up free for a feed built around what you actually care about, Dive Deeper research on any story, and the full text of every article.
Create free accountAlready have an account? Sign in