You know him as the CEO of OpenAI — but did you know that Sam Altman is an avid writer?
As one of today’s most successful entrepreneurs, Sam champions the tremendous value of writing: how it clarifies your thinking, expands your ideas, and levels-up your life in every sense, both personally and professionally. Plus, he has a love for the creative. (Have you ever met someone who can recite Percy Bysshe Shelley poems from memory? Well, Sam can.)
In this episode, we discuss how Sam uses ChatGPT in his daily life; how LLMs are changing the future of writing; what it means to be a novelist in the age of technology; and Sam’s best-learned writing lessons from Paul Graham. If you want to learn how the king of ChatGPT writes, this episode is for you.
SPEAKER LINKS:
Website: https://openai.com/
Blog: https://blog.samaltman.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/sama
WRITE OF PASSAGE:
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https://writeofpassage.com/
PODCAST LINKS:
Website: https://writeofpassage.com/how-i-write
Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/how-i-write/id1700171470
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2DjMSboniFAeGA8v9NpoPv
TIMESTAMPS:
00:00:00 Introduction
00:01:36 Will LLMs change how we write?
00:03:22 Human-computer interaction
00:08:39 How does Sam use ChatGPT?
00:11:26 How Sam shed his anxiety
00:13:00 How clear thinking leads to clear communication
00:17:24 Sam once dreamed of being a novelist
00:18:37 What Peter Thiel taught Sam about thinking
00:21:35 What Paul Graham taught Sam about writing
00:24:00 How much of Sam’s writing comes from conversation
00:26:02 The book Sam Altman wants to write
00:28:37 Sam’s Advice for Founders and Y-Combinator Applications
00:30:20 How Y-Combinator Influences OpenAI
00:30:43 What Excites Sam About Writing with ChatGPT
00:33:45 How Sam Decides What to Work On
00:35:55 How Sam chose to work on AGI
00:37:35 Writing strategy memos at OpenAI
00:38:38 The skill you need in the age of AI
00:39:53 Does writing education need to change?
00:41:34 Why isn’t ChatGPT a better storyteller?
00:44:20 Sam’s obsessive note-taking method
00:46:06 The Future of Writing in an AI World
00:47:12 Will AI put writers out of work?
ABOUT THE HOST:
I’m David Perell and I’m a writer, teacher, and podcaster. I believe writing online is one of the biggest opportunities in the world today. For the first time in human history, everybody can freely share their ideas with a global audience. I seek to help as many people publish their writing online as possible.
How I Write is a podcast by Write of Passage // Produced by Adam Soccolich