Universities around the country are working to adapt to the world of AI as students worry what it might mean for their job prospects. | Photo by Adrian Tillman
Story by Walter Reinke
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AI exploded onto the scene in late 2022 with the release of Chat GPT, a generative AI large language model. Since then, interest has only increased in AI, with more developed models being released and companies like Microsoft and Google investing billions of dollars.
But not everyone is excited. The proliferation of AI has left some college students worried that after years of school and thousands of dollars spent, there might no longer be a job for them.
Walter Reinke talked to some of those students and their professors to see if things are as bad as they seem.
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SOT (Jarrahi): “If you’re not worried, probably you’re not paying attention.”
Right now, it feels like you can’t go a day without hearing something about AI. But Mohammad Jarrahi, a professor and undergraduate program coordinator with UNC-Chapel Hill’s School of Information and Library Science, has been studying it for years.
Top of mind for Jarrahi and many others: jobs.
In 2020, AI eliminated 1.8 million jobs globally but created 2.3 million new jobs, a net gain of about 500 thousand new jobs.
But those jobs aren’t evenly distributed. In 2022, workers with a Bachelor’s degree or higher made up 27% of jobs most exposed to AI, the highest percentage among US workers.
SOT (Jarrahi): “Some of these AI systems powered by deep learning, they can penetrate knowledge work, white collar work.”
That’s left many college students wondering what their future holds, and if there’s still a job for them after graduation.
SOT (Kim): “I think for the industry it’s actually good. But for a graduating senior or even like a junior or a sophomore computer science student now, or even graduating high school students who might have wanted to study computer science, it’s like a pretty big worry.”
David Kim is a graduating computer science major at UNC, one of the fields that looks to be most affected by AI.
SOT (Kim): “I think I’ve submitted about 326 applications so far.”
He’s not the only student concerned about AI. Sarayu Thondapu is a UNC sophomore majoring in political science and economics.
SOT (Thondapu): “We spent four years of our lives at an undergraduate institution. We worked our butts off. We tried like we did a lot to like you know, get to the places of really need gained a lot of experience. But then to realize that something that we’ve kind of we’re responsible for creating might actually end up dashing all our efforts. I definitely think that’s really scary.”
A law school hopeful, Thondapu became worried about AI after her family told her about LegalGPT, an offshoot of ChatGPT that helps lawyers with research.
But after researching AI, she adopted a more optimistic view.
SOT (Thondapu): “But I guess what I realized was that it’s a tool at the end of the day, and it can be used to our benefit. It’s just a matter of how much we let that tool consume our jobs.”
Her optimism is shared by professors like Jarrahi, who still believe in the value of college.
SOT (Jarrahi): “There is some really important competitive advantage that still comes from a four year college degree. Right. And those are not replaceable by AI.”
He says college graduates can really set themselves apart by developing human skills, the things AI can’t do.
SOT (Jarrahi): “I’m looking at your face. AI system can somehow understand some of your mimic, whether you’re worried, whether you’re paying attention, whether you’re confused. But that’s not human touch.”
As AI becomes more advanced and more ingrained in our economy and society, more classes of graduating students will have to adapt.
SOT (Jarrahi): “If I want to give you good news for a lot of graduating students, their job, their prospects as a human, someone who’s entering the job market is not going to be removed, It’s not going to be lower. But the bad news is the business as usual is not going to happen.”
I’m Walter Reinke, reporting.
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Universities around North Carolina have started programs to help students learn more about AI.
Duke University started the AI Competition Club, which aims to help students develop their skills in the AI space outside of the classroom.
UNC gave students access to Microsoft Copilot, a generative AI tool, earlier this year.
Stan Ahalt, dean of UNC’s School of Data Science and Society, said the school is helping students become AI literate through programs like the Carolina AI literacy project.
The school hopes that resources like these can help students adapt as AI continues to change the work environment.
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