Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates has some advice to the recent graduates: AI tools are here to stay, but they will not be able to guarantee stability of their careers. Talking to CNN, Gates admitted that AI has opened up opportunities that are both fun and empowering but it has not removed the uncertainty that young job seekers have to go through.
“Embracing [AI], and tracking it, will be very, very important,” Gates said. That does not ensure we will not have much dislocation. His Gen Z advice has not changed: “Be curious, read, and use the latest tools.”
To a lot of young professionals, the job search is already broken. On Tik Tok, desperate job seekers post endless rejection notices and concerns over a contracting job market. Their fears are backed by statistics according to which entry-level job postings in the U.S. have declined by approximately 35 percent since January 2023, and those that can be automated by AI have been the most affected. According to a survey conducted recently, 49 percent of Gen Z job seekers consider that AI has diminished the worth of their degrees. The rate of unemployment among the fresh college graduates is currently over 6 percent compared to the national figure of about 4 percent.
In several industries, AI is already substituting entry-level jobs. At the global investment firm Carlyle, work previously performed by junior employees, including finding articles or requesting documents, is now done by AI, causing the company to start hiring employees whose job is to check the work of AI. Likewise, Bill Balderaz, the CEO of a consulting company Futurety, did not take a summer intern, but he used ChatGPT to generate social media content.
This is a significant change of career to Gen Z. Others are reorienting toward areas AI is unlikely to interfere with, focusing on human-centric jobs, creativity, and physical ability. Talented professions such as building, plumbing, and electricity are being popularized- elevator installers, to mention just one example, can make a six-figure salary without a degree. Careers involving people such as healthcare, education, and social work are also attracting attentions.
The takeaway? Not only AI literacy will be necessary, but also adaptability. The graduates who are more AI-savvy might not escape turbulence as Gates warns. In the future, the work will go in favor of the people who can integrate technological fluency with skills that can not be easily imitated by machines. To Gen Z, survival in the age of AI requires being both innovative and resilient.
