David Kim, a senior studying computer science at UNC-Chapel Hill, has submitted 326 applications to date. He has only made it past the interview stage for three of them.
Kim said that’s normal for computer science students like him, who are still applying for jobs as graduation approaches. He added that some of his classmates have applied to about 1,000 jobs and are still waiting to hear back.
Kim said career competitiveness is often attributed to the economy and the job market, but she also points to a new wave of technology: artificial intelligence.
Artificial intelligence aims to have intelligence equal to or even superior to that of humans in solving problems. This type of advanced technology is financially attractive for companies, Kim said.
“We will see how [companies] “We’re trying to automate jobs,” he said. “I think from an economic perspective, [AI] will definitely eliminate jobs. And that’s scary.
Mohammad Hossein Jarrahi, a professor in the UNC-CH School of Library and Information Sciences who studies the relationship between humans and AI in the workforce, says the threat from AI comes down to one concept: self-learning.
“[AI systems] “People are adaptive in their learning, and that’s both an opportunity and a threat,” Jarrahi said. “Because if they’re really good at learning, what’s going to happen to me? If they’re learning in some way independent of me as a knowledge worker, then what’s my contribution?”
Jarrahi said blue-collar jobs are typically threatened by new technology and automation, but this new wave of AI is also affecting knowledge workers seeking degrees — a group that was thought to be immune, Jarrahi said.
“If you’re not worried, you’re probably not paying attention,” Jarrahi said.
Kim said it’s difficult to predict the future, but he knows he will have to find ways to compete in a changing job market, now influenced by AI.
“I think for the industry, [AI] “It’s a good thing. But for a senior, or even a sophomore in computer science, or even a high school student who wants to study computer science, it’s a big worry,” Kim said. “I don’t know what’s going to happen. I don’t think anyone knows. But we’ll have to adapt somehow, as always.”
Undergraduate Uncertainty
Fears of AI replacing jobs aren’t just affecting computer science students.
As a sophomore at UNC-CH, Sarayu Thondapu has already had many conversations about how AI will impact her future.
Thondapu is currently studying economics and political science as part of a pre-law degree program. While on winter break in Charlotte, North Carolina, his uncle warned him to be wary of the potential impact of AI on the legal profession. For example, the AI program LegalGPT can perform tasks similar to those of legal assistants or paralegals.
Scott Geier, a professor at UNC-CH’s Hussman School of Media and Journalism, said young lawyers, for example, are at risk of losing their jobs because AI can perform the same tasks, such as reviewing documents and writing memos.
“Anything that involves analyzing information quickly and efficiently, AI already does it better. So it’s going to be better, faster and cheaper,” Geier said. “And if something is better, faster and cheaper, they’re going to do the robot.”
Now AI leaves Thondapu to question his career.
“I wanted to become a lawyer to be someone who could help people, someone who could really connect with the cases that I was working on and be helpful to them, and I wouldn’t let them down,” Thondapu said. “I worry that if I end up relying too much on ChatGPT or artificial intelligence, I’ll kind of forget why I’m here in the first place.”
Halfway through his undergraduate experience, Thondapu thinks about his future degree and often wonders if it will all be worth it.
“We spent four years of our lives in an undergraduate institution. We worked hard. We did a lot to get to where we are and we gained a lot of experience,” Thondapu said. “But then to realize that something that we are responsible for could end up undoing all of our efforts, I think it’s really scary.”
Because of her “survival mentality,” she said she is now incorporating technology courses and a data science certification into her studies to be competitive in the job market and help secure her future.
“I think we all understand this: We have to know something about computers to be able to exist in a world like this,” Thondapu said.
But she worries that with too much focus on computers, this generation is forgetting how to communicate with passion and humanity. That’s why Thondapu added a creative writing major to her studies to compete with AI.
Kim also considered changing his degree plans. He said he initially focused on applications related to software engineering and web development, but after this AI surge, he became interested in more machine learning-related positions.
But it’s still a change he has to think about, he says, because these roles often require additional training, time and money.
AI vs. College Degrees
The value of college degrees has always been debated, Jarrahi said. However, the value of higher education in the age of AI adds new twists to the debate.
Google offers career certificates to anyone interested in the tech industry, with no prior experience required. Its website touts the programs as a real path to in-demand jobs in less than six months.
It costs less than college, takes less time, and Google has said the program is worth the same as a four-year degree, Geier said.
Some might think that “college is too expensive, it’s not worth the money,” Geier said. “And people are starting to realize that if AI becomes part of the equation, it’s only going to accelerate that mindset.”
Duke University now offers a degree program for learning AI: the Duke Master of Engineering in AI program.
Jared Bailey is the current president of Duke’s AI Competition Club and a student in the master’s program, which costs $75,877 for a typical 12-month program: two semesters and a summer session.
The program includes other flexible training options, such as a 16-month extended program, which costs up to $95,000, and the 24-month online program, which costs $98,970.
But Bailey believes the program is worth it.
“A smart student wants to know whether his education will provide a fair return on investment,” he said. “I don’t see a world in which students aren’t able to find fields of study that provide a fair return on investment.”
Duke’s AI program website said the degree would provide “excellent graduate outcomes” in jobs around engineering and data science.
Bailey said artificial intelligence has the potential to help other industries, not just science, engineering or technology. He said a classmate in the program is a doctor who uses computer vision to identify diseases in high-resolution photos.
Bailey linked advances in artificial intelligence to the creation of the camera, the Internet and personal computers. He said that while these advances all initially met with some opposition, they ultimately improved humanity’s work.
“Duke has been very embracing of student use of AI,” Bailey said. “When I was younger, teachers were pushing back against students using calculators and the internet. It’s refreshing to see Duke taking a different stance and embracing this new technology.”
AI is here to enhance our work, not compete with it, he said.
Adopting AI
Professional writer Erin Servais believes humans can collaborate with AI, and she’s even incorporated it into her career.
Servais has been editing professionally, from line editing to developmental editing, since 2008. Last year, Servais’s career changed when she used ChatGPT to edit texts for the first time.
“I was really impressed by the accuracy and speed of this system,” Servais said. “And I knew it was going to have a big impact on our profession. I knew that immediately, the first time I tried it.”
She then created the “AI for Editors” course to prepare and educate editors on how AI programs like ChatGPT are reshaping the profession.
Because ultimately, AI replaces editors, she said.
“People are losing their jobs because of artificial intelligence, and it’s just not intelligent,” Servais said. “That’s not a good thing, and it’s not going to help readers, or authors, or anyone.”
But if editors learn to use AI, editing can be more accurate and efficient for organizations, she said. An editor who knows AI can enjoy better job security and value in the workplace, she added.
The next evolution of jobs will be to guide AI programs and review their work rather than manually making changes to a document, Servais said. But humanity remains essential, she added.
“We don’t want AI to do our job because we still need to check it and make sure what it produces is quality and factual. And humans are still needed for that,” Servais said.
According to Geier, AI could take over most tasks in most professional fields, but also under human supervision. But this will happen gradually.
He doesn’t think students graduating today will lose their jobs because of AI, as long as they prepare. But those who don’t learn AI will be left behind, he said.
Geier said students need to give themselves “an edge” by working with AI in ways others can’t. And that’s what universities need to teach, he said.
“You have to make yourself relevant by using AI in what you’re doing now,” Geier said. “The way it’s going to happen is when you get out of here, employers are going to ask, ‘Can a stranger, a stranger off the street, come in and do the same job you’re doing?’” [a student] “What does it mean to do just by writing a prompt in AI?” If the answer is yes, you no longer have a job.
