The Death of the PhD? AI Puts Practical Skills in the Spotlight

Education is becoming more dynamic than ever, and the emergence of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is at the center of this transformation. What used to require years of research and study is now being revolutionized by the fast technological advancement. The CEO of the first generative AI team at Google and founder of Google, Jad Tarifi, says that a PhD is becoming obsolete in this new age of faster innovation.

According to Tarifi, AI is changing so rapidly that by the time a person finishes a PhD, the technology they are reading about has already evolved. Tarifi describes the process of his doctorate as 5 years of studying and suffering, but he must admit that it wasn’t painless.

PhDs are Becoming a Relic of the Past

Tarifi is of the opinion that the doctorate degree is only worthwhile to individuals who are highly interested in research. The issue, he says, is that research and academic programs are changing at an incredibly gradual rate that by the time a student earns a five- or seven-year PhD, their curriculum and the technology that has supported it has advanced.

That is, the formal academic systems are failing to follow the lightning speed of the digital world. Subjects that had to be memorized or learned by heart are in danger of becoming automated, being done more efficiently and less inaccurately by an AI system.

There are some grave threats to the Memory-Based Professions

Tarifi cautions that careers that rely so much on memory such as medicine or traditional clerical work are at risk of being disrupted in the long run by AI. According to him, in case your job is all about remembering facts, AI will soon perform it faster than you.

He recommends that students should redirect attention to areas where AI is still developing like in the biological, environmental and botany fields. Human intuition, creativity, and decision-making will continue to be important in these areas and cannot be substituted by algorithms. 

The Future is in Skills, Not Degrees.

Academic qualifications can soon be placed second to the job market as smart skills and emotional intelligence are valued. Tarifi believes that what certificate is hanging on a wall will be of lesser importance than practical capability and adaptability to change.

He stresses that technical expertise alone does not suffice, but rather the ability to learn fast, accept change, and be responsible with technology is what makes a person successful in the era of AI. The most important characteristics of the future workforce are emotional intelligence (EQ), adaptability and creativity.

‘Degrees tell what you learned; skills show what you are capable of doing’, Tarifi says. In the AI-driven world, it is your capability to think, learn and feel, which will make you really different.

Education Must Be Revisited Radically

A big crossroads is currently being encountered by the global education system. As AI is not only changing how students study, but also what they should study, universities are also being called upon to revise curricula that develop emotional development, problem-solving and digital fluency in addition to theory.

Future generations will be successful individuals who could combine both the smartness and the compassion, the ingenuity with rationality, and the numbers with the understanding of people. Artificial Intelligence can substitute work, but it cannot be used to emulate passion, purpose, and depth of emotions.