Anthropic cofounder says she doesn't regret her literature major - and says AI will make humanities majors 'more important'

""Learn to code" was once common career advice. Now it might be: "Learn to read." English majors are often the butt of the joke, known for their unmarketable skills. (Does anyone want to hire me for having read "Great Expectations"?) Anthropic president Daniela Amodei takes the opposing stance. She doesn't regret her literature degree - and says AI will make the humanities more important."

""In a world where AI is very smart and capable of doing so many things, the things that make us human will become much more important," she said on ABC News. Amodei listed some things that make us human: understanding ourselves, our history, and what makes us tick. Studying the humanities is "more important than ever," she said, while large language models are often very good at STEM."

Advances in AI increasingly automate technical and routine tasks, elevating the value of distinctly human skills such as empathy, historical and self-understanding, and nuanced interpretation. Humanities study cultivates critical thinking, contextual analysis, and insight into motives and culture, skills less replicable by large language models that often excel at STEM tasks. Strong human interaction and interpersonal engagement retain high demand in many settings. Educational and career planning faces a shift toward balancing technical proficiency with humanities-trained judgment. Industry perspectives on the future value of computer science degrees diverge amid changing workplace needs and evolving AI capabilities.

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