Four years of classes, thousands of dollars in tuition and one freshly minted diploma — all to be outdone by a chatbot.
As artificial intelligence floods the workplace, nearly half of Gen Z job seekers say their degrees have already been made obsolete by the rise of generative AI tools like ChatGPT — and they’re wondering why they even bothered hitting the books in the first place.
It’s a waste of time and money, according to respondents to a new Indeed report, which found 49% of Gen Z job hunters think their college education has lost value in the job market thanks to AI.
Only about one-third of millennials feel the same way, and just 1 in 5 boomers have similar regrets, as CIO Dive reports.
The tech tide isn’t turning anytime soon. Businesses are adopting AI faster than you can say “resume rewrite,” and young workers — especially fresh-out-of-college grads — are feeling the squeeze most.
Indeed’s new report, conducted by Harris Poll and based on responses from 772 U.S. workers and job seekers with at least an associate’s degree, reveals a generational divide in career confidence.
Younger applicants are far more likely than their older counterparts to feel that AI has rendered their skills — and schooling — useless.
Even worse, college degrees are rapidly losing priority in job listings. With companies increasingly dropping the four-year requirement, half of Gen Z now say college was a poor investment altogether.
“Every job currently posted on Indeed’s job board will likely experience some level of exposure to generative AI and the changes it represents,” Indeed Senior Talent Strategy Advisor Linsey Fagan warned readers in an email to CIO Dive.
And employers aren’t just looking for folks with fancy paper — they’re looking for people who know how to work with the machines.
“For any organization to succeed with AI, every single employee needs to have a basic understanding of AI and how their company uses it,” said Fagan. “Leaders play a crucial role in this shift by assessing their teams, listening to individual needs, and supporting their development.”
The pressure to adapt is real. From entry-level roles to the C-suite, AI is transforming not just how people work — but what they work on, how they’re paid, and even who gets hired.
Some employers are responding by offering upskilling programs, while tech vendors like Microsoft and Google are rolling out public training tools to get workers AI-ready — and help them stay that way.
Online education platform O’Reilly reported a huge surge in demand for AI learning tools last year, with four times as many professionals enrolling in courses on machine learning, prompt engineering and other once-niche skills.
“To truly unlock the potential of AI, organizations must invest in their people, offering training, hands-on experiences and opportunities to explore new tools in a supportive environment,” said Fagan.
“Organizations need employees to be motivated to try these tools and want to apply them in their day-to-day.”
This means it’s best to learn the tech, or get left behind.
For Gen Z grads facing a mountain of student debt and a job market where college degrees are being outpaced by coding bootcamps and chatbot know-how, it’s a bitter pill to swallow.
The new diploma, it seems, is digital — and spelled A-I.