The Emerging Early Career Crisis

A new college year begins, and the quiet secret on campus is that everyone (e.g. students and professors) is using AI. Essays, exams and even lectures are all being co-authored by machines. But the real issue isn’t the “cheating” debate; it’s that universities are educating students for a work world that no longer exists. It’s Horse-and-Buggy 101 in the age of self-driving EVs.

Last week Stanford researchers revealed that entry-level college graduates (ages 22 to 25) have seen job openings drop by 13% since 2022. The numbers hit hard: that’s about 1.4 million fewer opportunities in the US. Just think of all that tuition, and associated debt, with limited payoff.  

This is an important issue to watch for all professionals, as the impact of AI on young workers is the canary in the coal mine.  

So what should we tell students and young professionals? For starters, the old “learn to code” mantra feels…well, very 2018. Don’t reflexively dive into computer science unless you’ve been hacking since middle school. Instead, major in using AI, for a clear dividing line has emerged: those that don’t use AI are getting automated away, while those leveraging AI are getting augmented.  

And it’s no longer just about clever prompting; the real advantage comes from being a subject-matter expert who can direct entire teams of AI agents toward specific goals.  Also, those supposedly “soft” pillars of the liberal arts: critical thinking, judgment, ethics, clear communication? Interestingly, they’re becoming harder to replace, and more valuable than ever.

In sum, students should think twice about paying through the nose for traditional diplomas that depreciate faster than a Maserati.  The real return comes from mastering domain-specific AI while doubling down on the human edge. Anything less means graduating into the wrong economy.