Plenty of people are concerned about the rise of artificial intelligence, or AI. Two of our four kids are freelance graphic artists, and they are (legitimately) worried about their incomes being yanked as more people use AI for simple graphics chores like designing logos, and increasingly for more complicated work, like graphics for television programming and websites. It's a fair thing to be worried about, but as I have advised them both, that genie ain't going back in the bottle, so they'd best figure out how to work with it - or find another line of work.
These kinds of worries are, increasingly, spreading through the younger generations, and at least one report informs us that young college kids are seeking out AI-proof lines of study.
Two years ago, Josephine Timperman arrived at college with a plan. She declared a major in business analytics, figuring she’d learn niche skills that would stand out on a resume and help land a good job after college.
But the rise of artificial intelligence has scrambled those calculations. The basic skills she was learning in things like statistical analysis and coding can now easily be automated. “Everyone has a fear that entry-level jobs will be taken by AI,” said the 20-year-old at Miami University in Ohio.
A few weeks ago, Timperman switched her major to marketing. Her new strategy is to use her undergraduate studies to build critical thinking and interpersonal skills — areas where humans still have an edge.
“You don’t just want to be able to code. You want to be able to have a conversation, form relationships and be able to think critically, because at the end of the day, that’s the thing that AI can’t replace,” said Timperman, who is keeping analytics as a minor and plans to dive deeper into the subject for a one-year master’s program.
That seems a little fuzzy. Who says AI won't one day take over a variety of tasks like marketing? It may be hard to imagine now, but the capabilities AI has today would have been hard to imagine ten years from now - and these are young people, with 40 or 50 years of career ahead of them.
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At least some of these young students are aware of the trend and are trying to react. And, there are still disciplines taught in the universities that won't be replaced by AI, or at least, not completely.
There's another consideration, though, that doesn't involve six figures of student debt. There's a possibility that the kids in this article have, apparently, not considered, and it's a possibility that isn't likely to be taken over by AI any time soon: The trades.
Unless there is some startling and sudden improvement in robotics in the near future, then professions like carpentry, plumbing, electrical work, and so forth will be safe from the AI revolution. An AI may be able to write code, but for now, at least, it can't drive a nail or replace a fuse box. A computer hooked to your car or truck may be able to run a diagnostic and tell you that your alternator is failing, but it can't replace the alternator.
All of this seems part and parcel of this notion of "every kid should go to college." Not only is that patently untrue; many kids, in fact, should not go to college, but it's caused our nation's young skulls full of mush to neglect careers which are honest, honorable, and lucrative. We need more welders, mechanics, electricians, and carpenters, and we always will. And AI won't be taking those jobs, not anytime soon.
Editor's Note: President Trump is fighting to ensure America's kids get the education they deserve.
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