3 signs AI has already made your college degree pointless

Source: https://citizenwatchreport.com/3-signs-ai-has-already-made-your-college-degree-pointless/
Published: 2025-12-04
Author: Horse
Post Date: 2025-12-04 13:37:41 by Horse
Views: 49

THE AI JOB MASSACRE NOBODY’S TALKING ABOUT: YOUR COLLEGE DEGREE JUST BECAME TOILET PAPER

Let’s cut through the BS: AI has eliminated 77,999 jobs in 2025 across 342 tech companies.

37% of companies using AI say the technology replaced workers in 2023 because “they were no longer needed.”

And in 2024, 44% using or planning to use AI say employees will “definitely” or “probably” be laid off.

But here’s what makes this different from every other tech revolution: major tech firms reduced new graduate hiring by 25% in 2024 compared to 2023.

These aren’t positions getting automated – these are jobs that no longer exist.

The con everyone’s selling: “AI will create new jobs!”

Sure. While 85 million jobs are projected to be displaced by 2025, 97 million new roles may emerge. Sounds great until you read the fine print:

77% of new AI-related jobs require master’s degrees, and 18% require doctoral degrees. Your four-year degree? Worthless. The new entry point is a PhD most people can’t afford.

What’s actually happening: A major tech CEO revealed that 30% of company code is now AI-written. At the same time, over 40% of recent layoffs targeted software engineers.

Companies are dissolving copywriting divisions and replacing substantial portions of their coding staff. More than 80% of digital marketers already fear AI will replace content writers – and they’re right.

Occupations at highest risk: computer programmers, accountants, auditors, legal and administrative assistants, customer service reps, telemarketers, proofreaders, credit analysts.

Notice a pattern? White-collar, college-educated, once-stable careers – the exact jobs your parents told you were “safe.”

The demographic timebomb: 79% of employed women in the U.S. work in jobs at high risk of automation, compared to 58% of men.


Globally, 4.7% of women’s jobs face severe disruption from AI versus 2.4% for men.

In high-income countries? Nearly 10% of women’s jobs are at highest risk compared to just over 3% for men. This isn’t just job loss – it’s systematic wealth destruction along gender lines.

The prediction nobody wants to make: Leading AI executives warn that AI could eliminate half of all entry-level white-collar jobs within 5 years.

Other global tech leaders back this projection, forecasting potential impact to half the global workforce by 2027.

We’re not talking about a gradual transition. We’re talking about 14% of workers already displaced by automation or AI, with estimates that AI could replace the equivalent of 300 million full-time jobs worldwide.

January 2025 saw the lowest job openings in professional services since 2013 – a 20% year-over-year drop. 40% of white-collar job seekers in 2024 failed to secure even an interview.

You’re seeing the early days of something unprecedented: an entire generation locked out of the careers they trained for, watching AI do their jobs better, faster, and for pennies on the dollar.

The social contract was “get educated, work hard, build a career.” AI just voided that contract.

And nobody – not universities, not politicians, not companies – has a plan for what comes next.

Sources: FinalRoundAI, AIPRM, SSRN, Fox Business, Goldman Sachs, National University, AIMultiple, WORK ON PEAK, Nexford University

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#1: Horse    To: Horse (#0)

Two highly recommended short-term AI training programs for workers looking to upgrade their skills within a few days or weeks are the Google AI Essentials course and the MIT Professional Education Short Programs.

Google AI Essentials is a self-paced, beginner-friendly course designed for individuals with no prior experience in AI. It can be completed in under 5 hours and focuses on practical, hands-on experience using generative AI tools to boost productivity in daily work tasks. The course covers key topics such as introducing AI, maximizing productivity with AI tools, mastering the art of prompting, using AI responsibly, and staying ahead of the AI curve. Upon completion, participants earn a certificate from Google, which can be added to professional profiles and resumes to demonstrate competency in AI.

For a more intensive, short-term option, MIT Professional Education offers several two- to five-day short programs. These programs are designed for technical professionals and senior leaders seeking to integrate AI into their organizations or enhance their machine learning toolkits. Notable courses include Machine Learning for Big Data and Text Processing: Foundations (2 days), Reinforcement Learning (3 days), and Applied AI and Data Science Program (equivalent to 5 days). These programs cover advanced topics such as supervised and unsupervised learning, neural networks, computer vision, and ethical AI, with instruction from leading MIT faculty experts. The Applied AI and Data Science Program, in particular, includes practical applications of prompt engineering, agentic AI, and time-series analysis over a 14-week period, offering a deep dive into real-world AI implementation.

Horse posted on 2025-12-04 13:37:56   Reply   Private Reply


#2: Pinguinite    To: Horse (#0)

I agree.  I'm feeling the pinch too.  

Pinguinite posted on 2025-12-05 02:19:24   Reply   Private Reply


#3: Horse    To: Pinguinite (#2)

Would an AI course help?

Horse posted on 2025-12-05 03:42:17   Reply   Private Reply


#4: Pinguinite    To: Horse (#3)

AI is hurting.  Yes, I use AI and it's made things like the modernization of this web site (to the extent it was modernized which perhaps some will dispute!) feasible, so yes it makes me more productive.  But others can also use AI to create software themselves so there's less need for them to hire programmers.  Industry wide, it reduces the demand for the expertise and that translates to it being harder to find jobs.  Software developers from India & Bangladesh and that area can also work for far less.  $400-$600 / month in India is enough to support a small family.

An argument can be made that expanding software skill to include AI capability can be done, and that could be the key.  There are now "AI agents" that can be created.  They are software programs that can utilize AI as a data resource.  I've looked at them some and tehy are supposed to be easy to use, but they are so incredibly different from standard software development tools that they take a while and a lot of patience to learn.  I tried learning that with the help of chatgpt as an mentor, and chatgpt thinks it can teach it but its instructions don't even match what I see on my screen so that doesn't work effectively either, unless the goal is just to frustrate the student.  

Looking at trading now, which is a field I know a lot about and have worked with a lot over the last 15 years, but never as an actual trader.  

Pinguinite posted on 2025-12-05 11:33:35   Reply   Private Reply