OpenAI CEO Sam Altman appeared on a blog show Thursday with Trevor Noah and reflected on his dismissal from the board of directors last month, arguing that despite the "painful cost," the lessons learned from the experience are important.

Altman admitted: "I'm still a bit in shock and just trying to pick up the pieces. I'm sure I'll feel more about it when I have time to sit down and digest it."

Last month, OpenAI's nonprofit board abruptly fired Altman, giving only vague reasons. But under intense pressure from investors such as Microsoft (370.95, 2.15, 0.58%), the company later reinstated Altman and shook up its board. The coup lasted only five days.

Noah noted on the show that Altman, who was just named CEO of the Year by Time magazine, will have considerable power in shaping the future.

"One thing I'm going to plead with you is, continue to remember how you felt when you were fired, because you're creating a technology that's going to put a lot of people in a similar situation, because I see humanity in you, and I hope as you create, you're going to keep thinking about that," Noah said.

Altman said to Noah, "You know what I did on Saturday morning when I couldn't sleep? I wrote down, 'When other people come across similar things and blame me like I blame the board right now, what can I learn from it to help me do better?' '"

He added: "There were a lot of useful lessons, but the empathy I gained from the whole experience and my recompilation of values has certainly been a blessing in disguise." It's a painful price to pay, but I'm glad to have had the experience."

While opinions are divided, some argue that the adoption of AI will lead to widespread unemployment. Over the past year, Altman has frequently warned lawmakers and others about the need to prepare for possible job losses caused by AI, which he believes will affect some more than others.

Speaking at an event in October, he said: "We really have to do something about this transformation. We need to be the architects of the future together."