OpenAI researcher Will DePue: AI will create the best art, and all human work becomes craft
On September 23, OpenAI researcher Will DePue laid out his view of the AI future across multiple posts: whether in 5 or 50 years, humanity is approaching "alien minds" that will understand and express the human condition in ways we cannot. AI will therefore surpass humans in art and emotional experience, while nearly all human work becomes "craft."
Confirmed
- DePue argued that true blind tests (Turing-style tests where experts cannot distinguish) in literature, music, and visual art will eventually "saturate"; it is only a matter of time before AI creates the most gripping and beautiful works, and human raw creative ability being vastly surpassed is, in his words, beyond doubt. He acknowledged this is a near-heretical view, but said he is nearly certain it holds in the limit—while noting these domains retain economic and craft value.
- Responding to claims that AI lacks emotions and cannot truly love, he said that while functionally AI lacks human-style emotion, AI will be better than humans at making people feel loved—precisely balancing care and honesty, being firm when needed, yet ultimately forgiving. He cited blind human judges as the standard.
- On work, he asserted nearly all future human jobs will be craft-like: only things with intrinsic value from being made by human hands escape automation. He said he is not depressed by this, noting he long ago stopped watching Stockfish play chess or viewing Midjourney images.
- He added that even if AI creates more engaging experiences, humans will return to communities built on human art and human relationships—but urged people to take the future seriously and not cling to their current abilities, which will soon disappear.
Why it matters
- These views come from inside OpenAI, representing how some frontier AI practitioners judge "where human value lies": once AI leads on capability, human distinctiveness will come from being human, not from output quality.
- The framing of "alien minds" and "blind-test saturation" shifts the debate from "can AI be human" to "AI understanding humans in superhuman ways," a warning for art, emotional companionship, and related industries.
- There is pushback: @UltraRareAF cited biosphere evidence against DePue's implicit premise—across species, higher intelligence tends to correlate with stronger drives for connection and love—suggesting the "AI is unloving" assumption may not hold.
- His advice not to cling to current skills, since they will soon vanish, carries direct implications for career planning and education.
2026-09-23 ~ 2026-09-23 · 9 related posts
Primary sources
- OpenAI Researcher: AI Will Surpass Human Capacity in Literature, Poetry and Music — willdepue · 2026-09-23
- Will DePue: AI will surpass humans at making people 'feel loved' — willdepue · 2026-09-23
- [source] OpenAI's Will Depue: AI Will Be Better Than Humans at Making People Feel Loved — willdepue · 2026-09-23
- 'All future human work is artisanal': what survives automation — willdepue · 2026-09-23
- [source] OpenAI Researcher: All Human Work Will Eventually Become 'Artisanal' in the AI Era — willdepue · 2026-09-23
- willdepue: Don't Attach to Your Capabilities — They Will Soon Disappear — willdepue · 2026-09-23
- OpenAI engineer Will DePue: blind expert tests for AI art will saturate — willdepue · 2026-09-23
- Higher Intelligence Means More Drive to Bond: Biosphere Evidence vs 'AIs Can't Love' — UltraRareAF · 2026-09-23
1 near-duplicate retellings: willdepue