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Two years ago, Josephine Timperman arrived at college with a plan. She declared a major in business analytics, figuring she’d learn niche skills that would stand out on a resume and help land a good job<\/a> after college.<\/p>\n But the rise of artificial intelligence<\/a> has scrambled those calculations. The basic skills she was learning in things like statistical analysis and coding can now easily be automated. \u201cEveryone has a fear that entry-level jobs will be taken by AI,\u201d said the 20-year-old at Miami University in Ohio.<\/p>\n A few weeks ago, Timperman switched her major to marketing. Her new strategy is to use her undergraduate studies to build critical thinking and interpersonal skills \u2014 areas where humans still have an edge.<\/p>\n \u201cYou don\u2019t just want to be able to code. You want to be able to have a conversation, form relationships and be able to think critically, because at the end of the day, that\u2019s the thing that AI can\u2019t replace,\u201d said Timperman, who is keeping analytics as a minor and plans to dive deeper into the subject for a one-year master\u2019s program.<\/p>\n Today\u2019s college students say that picking a major that\u2019s \u201cAI-proof\u201d feels like shooting at a moving target as they prepare for a job market that could be fundamentally different by the time they graduate.<\/p>\n As a result, many are reconsidering their career paths. About 70% of college students see AI as a threat to their job prospects, according to a 2025 poll by the Institute of Politics<\/a> at the Harvard Kennedy School, while recent Gallup polling finds<\/a> U.S. workers are increasingly concerned about being replaced by new technologies.<\/p>\n The uncertainty appears most concentrated among those pursuing degrees in technology and vocational areas of study, where students feel a need to develop expertise in AI but also fear being replaced by it. A recent Quinnipiac poll<\/a> found the vast majority of Americans believe it\u2019s \u201cvery\u201d or \u201csomewhat\u201d important for college and university students to be taught how to use AI, as Gallup Workforce polling finds AI is getting adopted in technology-related fields<\/a> at higher rates. Meanwhile, students studying health care and natural sciences may be less impacted by AI overhauls, Gallup found.<\/p>\n \u201cWe see students all the time change majors. That\u2019s not new or different. But it\u2019s usually for a ton of different reasons,\u201d said Courtney Brown, a vice president at Lumina, an education nonprofit focused on increasing the number of students who seek education beyond high school. \u201cThe fact that so many students say it\u2019s because of AI \u2014 that is startling.”<\/p>\n A recent Gallup poll of Generation Z<\/a> youth and adults, between the ages of 14 and 29, found increasing skepticism and concerns about AI. Although half of Gen Z adults use AI at least \u201cweekly,\u201d and teenagers report higher use, many in this generation see drawbacks to the technology and worry about AI’s impact on their cognitive abilities and job prospects. About half \u2014 48% \u2014 of Gen Z workers say the risks of AI in the workforce outweigh the possible benefits. <\/p>\n Part of the challenge for college students is that the experts they would typically turn to for advice, like advisers, professors and parents, don\u2019t have any answers. \u201cStudents are having to navigate this on their own, without a GPS,\u201d says Brown.<\/p>\n That uncertainty was evident last month at Stanford University, where the leaders of several prominent universities gathered for a wide-ranging panel discussion on the future of higher education. Topics of concern included the AI revolution that is transforming how students learn<\/a> and forcing educators to rethink pedagogy<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cWe need to think really hard about what students need to learn to be successful in the job market in 10, 20, 30 years,\u201d said Brown University President Christina Paxson.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd none of us know. We don\u2019t know the answer to that,\u201d Paxson said. \u201cI think it\u2019s communication, it\u2019s critical thought. The fundamentals of a liberal education are probably more important than learning how to code in Java right now.\u201d<\/p>\n Computer science major Ben Aybar, 22, graduated last spring from the University of Chicago and applied for about 50 jobs, mostly in software engineering, without getting a single interview. He pivoted to a master\u2019s degree in computer science and meanwhile has found part-time work doing AI consulting for companies.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople who know how to use AI will be very valuable,\u201d said Aybar, who sees new jobs emerging that require AI skills, particularly for people who can explain the complexities in layman’s terms. \u201cBeing able to talk to people and interact with people in a very human way I think is more valuable than ever.\u201d<\/p>\n At the University of Virginia, data science major Ava Lawless is wondering if her major is worthwhile but can\u2019t get concrete answers. Some advisers feel that data scientists will be safe because they\u2019re the ones building AI models, but she keeps seeing gloomy job reports that indicate the contrary.<\/p>\n \u201cIt makes me feel a bit hopeless for the future,\u201d Lawless said. \u201cWhat if by the time I graduate there\u2019s not even a job market for this anymore?\u201d<\/p>\n She is considering switching to studio art, which is her minor.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m at a point where I\u2019m thinking if I can\u2019t get a job being a data scientist, I might as well pursue art,\u201d she said. \u201cBecause if I\u2019m going to be unemployed, I might as well do something I love.\u201d<\/p>\n ___<\/p>\n The Associated Press\u2019 education coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP\u2019s standards<\/a> for working with philanthropies, a list<\/a> of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n