"Nowhere is this skepticism louder than in my own backyard. In Silicon Valley, the "skip college" mantra has evolved from a "hot take" to accepted wisdom. Fueled by the rise of generative AI, the logic is seductive: If artificial intelligence can code, write copy, and analyze data faster than a junior employee, why spend four years and a small fortune on skills a bot will master before you graduate?"
"I see exactly what our models can do, and I recognize the massive disruption coming for knowledge work. Yet, my conclusion is the exact opposite of the current narrative. As AI automates technical execution, the core purpose of the university sharpens. Far from making college obsolete, the AI revolution is making the benefits of higher education like wisdom, maturity, and the forging of mental models, the most critical economic differentiator a human can possess."
Confidence in the value of a college education has fallen to a 15-year low, and a "skip college" mentality has taken hold in Silicon Valley. Generative AI can perform technical tasks—coding, writing, data analysis—faster than junior employees, undermining a purely vocational model of higher education. As AI automates technical execution, the university's central role becomes clearer: cultivating wisdom, maturity, and durable mental models that enable humans to ask why, interpret, and lead. Those human capabilities will serve as the primary economic differentiator in an AI-native economy, making higher education more essential rather than obsolete.
Read at Fast Company
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