#14 The singularity will not be televised

Why Sam Altman’s letter reads like a bedtime story and what it’s really saying about AI, power, and the future of work

Jun 19, 2025

I was reading Sam Altman’s The Gentle Singularity, and... I’ll be honest, I started getting bored.

Not because it wasn’t interesting. But because it felt too calm. Too soft. Like someone telling you everything’s fine while quietly locking all the doors.

The words were smooth, polite, hopeful. But something felt off. So I started prompting, questioning, and asking Chat GPT, trying to pull out the real ideas behind the soft language.

And that’s when it got interesting.

TL;DR

Sam Altman’s The Gentle Singularity sounds soft, but hides sharp edges. He’s telling us more than he lets on. Read between the lines, and you’ll spot the real signals:

AGI might already be here, just not by name
AI is building itself faster than we’re ready for
The race isn’t just technical, it’s geopolitical
We’re quietly rewriting capitalism, and no one’s calling it that
You won’t be replaced by AI, but by someone using it better than you

Sam Altman didn’t write a press release.

He wrote a lullaby with teeth.

It’s the kind of essay that opens with a hug and closes with a revolution. He assures us we’re still going to swim in lakes, but slips in that AI is about to run the supply chain, drive the truck, and build the next version of itself.

If you read it like a product update, you’ll miss the point. This isn’t about what’s launching next quarter. It’s about who shapes the next century.

And here are some conclusions from what I can read between the lines.

AGI is here, it’s just not wearing a name tag

Altman doesn’t say “we built AGI.” But he says ChatGPT is “more powerful than any human who has ever lived.” That’s not a casual claim. That’s the kind of line that’s been debated in ethics papers for a decade.

So why not call it AGI?
Because the game is easier to manage when you don’t say the name out loud. Label it “smart autocomplete,” and people stay calm.

What to take away:
Don’t wait for the AGI announcement. You’re already living in its beta.

The loop has started, and the tools are learning to sharpen themselves

Recursive self-improvement sounds like science fiction. Altman describes it more like a weekend update.

AI is now helping us make better AI. Faster research. Smarter algorithms. Better hardware. Then those tools feed back into the next iteration.

That’s not a product cycle. That’s a feedback loop with rocket fuel.

If AI cuts the time for scientific discovery from 10 years to 10 months, the economy won’t adjust—it’ll mutate.

AI isn’t a product, it’s infrastructure

OpenAI isn’t positioning itself as a chatbot company. Read carefully. Altman is talking about cheap, abundant intelligence, like we talk about water or power.

He even compares data centers to energy plants. Mentions intelligence “converging to the cost of electricity.” You don’t do that if you’re thinking in software licenses. You do that if you’re planning to own the plumbing of the future.

What does that mean for marketers?
AI won’t be a feature in your stack. It is the stack. Build with it now, or rebuild later.

Centralized intelligence is the real existential risk

Altman’s tone is calm, but he’s visibly anxious about power concentration. He keeps saying AI should be “widely available,” “not too concentrated,” “accessible to everyone.”

This isn’t virtue signaling. It’s a flare.

Because right now, compute, data, and models are controlled by a tiny number of players. If superintelligence becomes reality, whoever holds it writes the rules of markets, media, and maybe democracy.

The polite version is: “alignment.”
The unspoken version is: don’t let this turn into oil, version 2.0.

The job loss is bigger than he admits

Altman says entire job classes will disappear, but pivots quickly to how people adapt. Classic soft sell.

Yes, people adapted to the Industrial Revolution. But many lost their livelihoods first. And if productivity doubles in a few years, companies won’t need the same headcount to scale.

Here’s the twist:
The threat isn’t AI replacing people. It’s people who embrace AI outpacing those who don’t.

If we’re waiting for a stable job description, we may already be behind…

Intelligence is the new oil, and ideas are the new labor

One of the most overlooked lines in the whole letter is this: “We’ll be limited by good ideas.”

Let that sit.

It means we’re moving from a world where skills were scarce to a world where ideas are.
That flips the value chain.

Before: execution was king.
Soon: execution is cheap, creativity is rare.

If you’re an “idea person,” this is your moment. Just be ready to do more than sketch on a napkin.

The singularity isn’t explosive, it’s invisible

Altman challenges the sci-fi version of the singularity. No AI overlords overnight. No flashing red eyes.

Instead, it's slow, steady, and already happening.

Today AI writes your draft
Tomorrow it builds your business
Next year it redefines your category

Singularity is when disruption stops being surprising. When miracles become baseline. That’s where we’re heading.

Final thought

Altman ends with a wish:
“May we scale smoothly, exponentially, and uneventfully through superintelligence.”

That’s not optimism. That’s a hope that we don’t mess this up.

If you’re in marketing, tech, or business, now’s the time to stop watching from the sidelines.
Because this isn’t a product launch. It’s a power shift.

Add your two cents before the bots do

Think Sam’s being too cautious? Too ambitious? Just right? What would GROK say about that?

I want your take.

Drop a comment, challenge an idea, or call out what we missed. Share this with someone who needs to read between the lines—because this isn’t just an AI update, it’s a conversation about the future.

Let’s make it a smart one.