- The results of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s guaranteed basic income study are out.
- Overall expenses increased, but most of the extra money went to food and rent.
- Recipients noted a decrease in financial stress, but that stress faded over time, the study found.
The long-awaited results of Sam Altman’s basic income study are out, one of the largest of its kind. The experiment gave low-income participants $1,000 a month for three years, with no strings attached.
Scholarship recipients spent most of their extra spending on basic necessities like rent, transportation and food, the study found. They also worked fewer hours on average but remained engaged in the workforce and were more careful about looking for work compared to the control group.
“Recipients have greater authority to make decisions that best suit their lives and prepare for the future, from moving to expressing interest in a new business venture,” the report’s authors said.
Altman, CEO of OpenAI, a leading artificial intelligence company, raised $60 million for the research, including $14 million of his own money. OpenResearch conducted the study, which was led by researcher Elizabeth Rhodes.
The program officially began in 2019 when 3,000 Texas and Illinois residents in urban, suburban and rural areas signed up. All of the residents made less than $28,000. One-third of them received $1,000 a month for three years, while the rest — a control group — received $50 a month. No participants lost their existing benefits.
The study found that those who received the $1,000 payments increased their overall spending by an average of $310 per month, but most of that spending went to food, rent and transportation. They also offered more financial support to others in need compared to the control group.
However, the researchers said they found “no direct evidence of increased access to health care or improvements in physical and mental health” among those who received the $1,000 payments.
“We saw significant reductions in stress, mental distress, and food insecurity during the first year, but those effects faded in the second and third years of the program,” the report said, noting that $1,000 a month may not provide meaningful benefits. “Money alone cannot address challenges such as chronic health conditions, lack of childcare, or high housing costs.”
The debate over basic income
The research was inspired by Altman’s belief in the importance of basic income in the age of AI, which some fear could make millions of jobs obsolete.
“It’s impossible to truly achieve equality of opportunity without some version of a guaranteed income,” Altman said in announcing the project.
The idea of a universal basic income has been around for a long time, but it rose to prominence as a centerpiece of Andrew Yang’s 2016 presidential campaign. Other prominent figures in the tech industry have since voiced their support. to get a basic income, including Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey and Tesla CEO Elon Musk. AI father Geoffrey Hinton recently suggested the UK government should adopt a universal basic income to reduce the number of “boring jobs” that will be replaced by AI.
A universal basic income would give everyone an immediate cash payment, with no strings attached. But it’s a big political push. Many cities and states have experimented with guaranteed basic incomes. These programs provide cash payments without restrictions to select low-income or vulnerable populations. Altman’s study also falls into this category.
Data from dozens of these smaller programs have found that cash payments can help reduce homelessness, unemployment and food insecurity — though the results still underscore the need for state and local governments to invest in social services and housing infrastructure.
Earlier this year, Altman also unveiled another type of basic income plan, which he calls “universal basic computing.” In this scenario, Altman said people would get “a slice” of the computing resources of the massive GPT-7 language model, which they could use as they saw fit.
“You have a portion of productivity,” he explained in a podcast.
But even this smaller experiment faces political hurdles. Conservatives in some states have opposed the program, hampering its progress.
Altman’s study findings
In its results, Altman’s research assessed quantitative data, such as surveys and banking transactions, and qualitative data, such as interviews with recipients.
The study found that compared with the control group, recipients’ total savings in their bank accounts increased by nearly 25%. Recipients also spent $22 more per month on others, or about 26% more than the control group. There was little impact on car or home ownership, although recipients of the $1,000 were more likely to move neighborhoods or make housing payments than the control group.
Regarding health care, recipients saw slight improvements compared with the control group in dental care, emergency room visits, and health care spending — although there was no direct evidence of improved health.
Scholarship recipients were more likely to want to have a budget and continue their education, especially in the third year, compared to the control group. However, there was no significant impact on overall educational achievement.
The study, which began during the COVID-19 pandemic when unemployment was high, found that employment rates declined in the second and third years among recipients compared to the control group. On average, incomes increased significantly for all groups, though slightly higher for the control group. Income for $1,000 recipients increased from just under $30,000 to $45,710, while income for the control group started at the same level but grew higher, to $50,970.
“Cash offers flexibility and can increase the authority to make employment decisions that align with the recipient’s individual circumstances, goals and values,” the report’s authors said.
What Altman’s basic income study participants said
One of the program’s recipients, Sarah, is a mother of four from rural Illinois who teaches at a homeschool network and earns enough from her job to buy school supplies.
“I don’t really get any benefit from it,” she said in a testimonial shared by OpenResearch. “Even though my husband has a pretty good job, we don’t have much money for extra things.”
Payments from the Altman program helped Sarah pay for braces for her two children, which were not covered by their insurance, she said. She also used the money to pay for her daughter’s graduation trip.
However, Sarah said she started to “fall into a mindset” where she was less careful with her finances because she felt money was coming “without having to work hard for it.”
“In retrospect, I regret not saving more,” he said.
Another recipient, Cara, told study researchers that she suffers from a debilitating nerve disorder, which causes pain throughout much of her body and loss of mobility.
While she began receiving some short-term disability payments, she said the break-in of her apartment caused her financial hardship, and she began selling her personal belongings.
“Feeling like you’re losing the ability to take care of yourself and needing so much help from others; that’s tough,” Cara says.
She said she “probably started crying” when she got the phone call saying she would receive a $1,000 payment from Altman’s program. The money helped her pay off nearly all of her debt.
“It’s like a miracle,” she said. “Knowing that I’m able to manage that mountain of medical debt, it’s like my brain is in a completely different place.”
Celene, another participant, told researchers that she was forced to move her family to a friend’s house after suffering a business failure. She said she was living in squalid conditions.
When he received the call that he had been selected to be in a group receiving $1,000 per month, he was in disbelief.
She said the money helped her buy new clothes, shoes and basic necessities for herself and her children. By the second month, she had found a job and started saving.
The money helped him “not feel like a failure as a parent,” he said, and gave him the confidence to make decisions that were in his family’s best interests.
