From Business Insider · Katherine Li · · 1m 20s
OpenAI CFO says AI is replacing rote finance work
Sarah Friar says OpenAI is using AI to cut routine finance work, including credit checks that once cost $200 each.
In brief
Sarah Friar says OpenAI is using AI to cut routine finance work, including credit checks that once cost $200 each. AI is already shrinking demand for repetitive office tasks, while leaders disagree on how far job losses may go. Originally reported by Business Insider.
AI trims rote work
OpenAI CFO Sarah Friar said AI is reducing the need for workers on repetitive tasks, including inside her own finance department.
“There is no doubt we are doing things with our own products inside of finance, for example, that do limit the number of people we need”
Credit checks changed first
Friar pointed to procurement credit checks, which OpenAI was doing at a rate of 2,800 a year. She called the work mundane and better suited to a model.
“That credit check is a pretty mundane piece of work”
People move upmarket
Her argument is that AI takes the rote work while employees spend more time on judgment-heavy tasks where human intelligence matters more.
“It's actually enabling people to do more work at the edge, more work where intelligence is needed”
The savings are huge
Friar said the cost per credit check fell from $200 to about 17 cents. For a finance chief, that kind of drop is hard to ignore.
“That is a great ROI for a CFO”
Others warn of layoffs
Her comments land amid darker forecasts. Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei has warned AI could erase half of entry-level white-collar jobs.
Hinton says it is early
Geoffrey Hinton said those job-loss predictions are probably right, even though AI still fails at some tasks. His warning: the technology is improving fast.
“We're in the very early stages”
The essence
AI is already shrinking demand for repetitive office tasks, while leaders disagree on how far job losses may go.
