Palantir CEO Alex Karp says neurodivergent workers will thrive in the AI era. An autistic psychologist says he has a point

Palantir CEO Alex Karp once said neurodivergent people will succeed in the AI era. One psychologist who is also autistic thinks the billionaire has a point, but says that neurodivergent workers’ advantage might not be what people think.

Karp, who is dyslexic, made his case about neurodivergent people earlier this year in an interview on the business podcast TBPN.

“There are basically two ways to know you have a future,” Karp said of workers in the AI era. “One, you have some vocational training. Or two, you’re neurodivergent.”

Karp has previously said his struggle with dyslexia was a “formative moment” that helped him learn to “think freely.” He has also credited dealing with dyslexia for his success cofounding Palantir and growing it into a massive software company worth roughly $470 billion. Karp has been at the helm for more than two decades, after cofounding it alongside Peter Thiel, Joe Lonsdale, Stephen Cohen, and Nathan Gettings in 2003.

During the interview with TBPN, Karp argued that AI is changing which skills and perspectives are valuable in the workplace.

“The thing they need to learn to do is be more of an artist, look at things from a different direction, be able to build something unique,” he said.

Daniel Wendler, a psychologist who specializes in neurodiversity and is himself autistic, agrees that people who think differently could have an advantage as AI reshapes the workplace. He says neurodivergent people’s different perspectives........

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