AI will likely disrupt many jobs in the coming years, but one of the leading companies in the space is looking to soften the impact.
OpenAI has announced a job platform named OpenAI Jobs Platform that connects employers and employees for AI jobs. OpenAI will also give out its own certifications so that employers are able to hire candidates proficient in AI.
“At OpenAI, we can’t eliminate (some job) disruption. But what we can do is help more people become fluent in AI and connect them with companies that need their skills, to give people more economic opportunities,” said OpenAI’s CEO of applications Fidji Simo.
OpenAI says its jobs platform will have “knowledgeable, experienced candidates at every level, and opportunities for anyone looking to put their skills to use.” It has also partnered with companies including Walmart, John Deere, BCG, Accenture and others to use its platform. The platform will also enable smaller businesses and local governments to find the AI talent they need to better serve their users.
OpenAI says that the jobs platform isn’t enough — employers need to be able to trust that the candidates that they see on the platform actually have the AI skills that they claim to. To fix this, OpenAI has launched OpenAI Certifications, which will certify people on AI skills. OpenAI already runs the OpenAI Academy, which is a a free online learning platform that’s already been used by more than 2 million people. OpenAI will now offer certifications for different levels of AI fluency, from the basics of using AI at work to AI-custom jobs and prompt engineering. OpenAI says it wants to certify 10 million Americans in AI by 2030. OpenAI says its launch partner companies will help design courses so that the skills that candidates learn will be useful in real-life workplaces.
It’s an interesting idea, but unless OpenAI takes a radically different approach, it might not end up being very different from the other job boards and certification platforms that are already in the market. What’ll also be interesting is how OpenAI plans to give out certifications — given how AI systems can already win gold medals at Math Olympiads, it would need to make sure that candidates aren’t simply using AI to pass the tests required for the certifications. The move though could serve a useful PR purpose — OpenAI will likely end up taking a part of the blame for future job losses, given how it had kickstarted the AI revolution with the release of ChatGPT, and having a jobs platform could help it deflect some of that criticism. It remains to be seen what becomes of the OpenAI Jobs Platform, but its announcement seems to be yet another indication that top AI companies are expecting plenty of disruption in the jobs market in the coming years.