Will AI Finally End Our Love Affair With College?
Enrollments to university are down and the threat to white-collar jobs is rising. Perhaps we are ready to value trade and vocational schools a little bit more.
No AI here.
Photographer: Allison Joyce/Bloomberg via Getty Images
A lot of the conversation around the rise of artificial intelligence has focused on its threat to white-collar jobs and knowledge workers. What is to become of the brokers, traders, graphic designers, software engineers and an endless array of other professionals? Creatives long believed we’d be relatively immune to AI; could a soulless, non-sentient machine really infuse passion and humanity into art? Apparently yes.
As the youngest in our workforce begin to plot their higher education and career choices, the question of which professions and skill sets can withstand the next industrial revolution looms large. Is this the moment when university education loses luster? Will American society put a higher premium than before on skilled labor jobs? Will younger Gen Z and Gen Alpha be encouraged to matriculate to trade and vocational schools, certification programs, or apprenticeships instead of fixating on a bachelor’s degree?