One of the upshots of having an artificial intelligence (AI) assistant like ChatGPT everywhere you go is that people start leaning on it for things it was never meant for. According to OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, that includes therapy and personal life advice – but it could lead to all manner of privacy problems in the future.

This human-centric fear stands in contrast to more dystopian narratives often associated with AI. Rather than rogue systems going off-script, Altman sees the real threat in deliberate misuse, particularly when powerful tools are easily accessible.

Speaking at a Federal Reserve forum, the OpenAI CEO pointed out the benefits of AI tools like ChatGPT. But he also cautioned that society needs to set new guardrails against the risks of overdependence on AI tools.