A degree is required if you desire a well-paying career. That was the message I heard in school. And, without a question, it still is. Personally, I’m beginning to believe it’s incorrect.
Degrees will soon be entirely meaningless if current trends continue. Not simply those in gender studies, Faroese poetry, and Harry Styles’ life and works. They’re all of them. Because AI will take over all of the occupations that require a degree. Architects, accountants, attorneys, and doctors are just a few examples. Even computer programmers, ironically, will be replaced by AI.
Then there are all the nice occupations that don’t require a degree but are nonetheless dominated by grads. Banking, insurance, and, oh no, journalism. AI will also eliminate a large number of jobs in certain fields. under fact, it appears like every office job is under jeopardy. BT recently announced plans to replace up to 10,000 employees with AI over the next seven years.
This scenario is worrisome for middle-class parents like me, whose children still have a decade of schooling ahead of them. Here we are, pressing our children to study hard in class and perform well on examinations in order to gain admission to a good university.
However, AI will render university a complete waste of time. In fact, it may render school entirely unnecessary. So, with AI progressing at such a breakneck pace, how will our children make a career when they grow up?
I’ve been thinking about it. And, as far as I can tell, there is just one stable, well-paying career that will undoubtedly survive the technological slaughter.
Plumber. As impressive as AI is, we’re still a long way from developing a computer programme that can unclog a toilet.
So forget about university. I hope my son decides to pursue a career as a plumber. At the very least, there will always be plenty of opportunities in that field. In fact, there will be even more than now, because analysts estimate that Poland will be richer than Britain by 2030, and Polish plumbers will no longer bother coming over here.
If Poland becomes more prosperous than the United Kingdom, British plumbers may begin to relocate there instead. So, if I want to see my son, I’ll have to pay for a flight to Warsaw. Expensive.
However, because my son will be in one of the few remaining forms of paid job by then, perhaps I can persuade him to pay my fare.
