A Conversation with Experts
Recently, there have been many articles in newspapers, magazines, on-line blogs and forums suggesting that AI will eliminate certain jobs and that, specifically, aspiring young computer or information scientists should think twice about entering this field because there will no longer be any entry-level jobs.
Breaking news: There are already signs that industry is opening more computer and information technology jobs. We will be following this closely.
What’s the real situation with AI and future job prospects? We asked two experts — Ali Shokoufandeh, PhD, Interim Dean of CCI and Distinguished University Professor, and Dario Salvucci, PhD, Interim Senior Associate Dean of Academic Operations at CCI and Professor of Computer Science — to weigh in on the future of computer science careers.
This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity by a real, live human being.
In this interview:
- Part I: Everyone calm down, this has happened before
- Part II: YOU: The essential, indispensable human factor
- Part III: Learning to learn for an unknown future
Part I: Everyone calm down, this has happened before
Interviewer: Given all the press about the supposed decline of computer science jobs due to the “rise” of AI, what do you think is happening and how will things shake out for CS graduates?
Dr. Shokoufandeh: Let’s take a quick look at this from an historical perspective over the course of the last 30 years, because artificial intelligence is an inflection point in the evolution of technology, just like many others that came before it.
And the advances have been significant. From personal computers to connected computers to networked computers which became the platform for the Worldwide Web. Processing images and graphics much faster, privacy and security – these have all been inflection points which have been happening since computing and consumer science came out. And they changed pretty much everything.
Dr. Salvucci: You could make an argument that the iPhone was an even bigger inflection point than ChatGPT. I think the iPhone changed everything. Before, you couldn’t stand at a train station and do a million things like you can now. And we all sort of rolled with it, and now we take it for granted.
Dr. Shokoufandeh: So, these inflection points have introduced great change and have caused many to declare that computer science is dead. But the fact of the matter is that what has enabled all this advancement, what is behind all this is the underlying computer science. Without the computer science foundation, these new technologies would never exist.
So, the new inflection point, in everybody’s opinion, is the rollout of AI and machine learning.
Now, the fear that is out there is the fear of not having a job because AI is taking away the jobs. But the reality is that every time one of these technologies is rolled out, it ends up living alongside everything else eventually, and the job market grows by double digits.
To go back to the iPhone example, nobody, nobody lost their job. In fact, the scope of things they had to do grew dramatically, exponentially. And not only impacted the phone companies, but entire sectors of the technology industry.
At some point, generative AI will become just another tool in the computer scientist’s toolbox, among many others. And then the next innovation will come along, and we’ll repeat the process.
Part II: YOU: The essential, indispensable human factor
Dr. Salvucci: Remember that all these technological advancements came from human intellect, imagination, and creativity, and so will the meaningful and responsible use of AI. One key thing I like to stress is that as advanced as AI has become, it still doesn’t replace human expertise.
You might not be writing as much code as before, but, instead, prompting AI to write it for you to achieve some objective. But if you can’t read the code it generates, you, a human being, can’t evaluate whether or not the AI output will do what you, or maybe your client, want it to do. How do you understand it? How do you fix it? It takes the human mind to create the context, to decide whether or not the AI output is adequate, and you have to be trained and educated to evaluate that. So, learning the fundamentals is really the key to success in working with AI.
Dr. Shokoufandeh: Also, the computer scientist has to figure out how to integrate that AI output to create an end-product, to envision the entire process that needs to occur before the AI output can actually work.
Dr. Salvucci: For example, if you want to use AI to control a forklift in a warehouse, you have to figure out how to make that work – an algorithm, the software, alone won’t do that.
Dr, Shokoufandeh: There are a lot of workflows that you have to complete to make that forklift do what you want it to do. What hardware does it need to support it, what operating system?
Dr. Salvucci: And this opens up other jobs — training on the new program, how to make sure there are limitations on the forklift so that it doesn’t go off the deep end, so to speak, and much more.
Dr. Shokoufandeh: You can’t just eliminate these processes, and they are designed and executed by human beings.
The fear is real, and we have to acknowledge this fear. But the flip side of that is that there will be tons of opportunities to innovate. The opportunities are mind-boggling.
Dr. Salvucci: There’s certainly a fear of the unknown, but the unknown creates a space where opportunities exist, and only human beings can seize those opportunities and continue to create advancements.
Part III: Learning to learn for an unknown future
Dr. Shokoufandeh: The introduction of AI on a large scale has caused the angst and the fear that we’ve been talking about, and nobody knows how to react. Industry doesn’t know yet everything they can do with artificial intelligence and machine learning, doesn’t know what the new baseline is for an entry-level job. As a result, universities don’t know what to teach.
Dr. Salvucci: Based on other inflection points, it seems like things begin to settle down after three to five years, so students starting college now and in the near future will have a much better idea of what those entry-level jobs will look like when they graduate. We know that those jobs will not be the same as they used to be, they will have changed like everything else.
Dr. Shokoufandeh: What we teach now, and will always teach our students, is learning how to learn – and learn – and learn. Because technology is evolving so very quickly, acquiring – and embracing – this process of constant learning – and reinventing oneself – will be key to ensuring that a student can navigate this rapid rate of change. To survive and to thrive.
Employers will always be looking for graduates who demonstrate intellectual agility, adaptability, flexibility, creativity and imagination, and an innovative spirit.
Dr. Salvucci: What we do know is that every future computer scientist will need a solid grounding in AI and machine learning. A student who graduates without these skills will not be prepared to work in the new tech environment.
Here at Drexel, we used to introduce these disciplines as advanced courses in the third and fourth years of study. Now, they are an integral part of the curriculum from the first year.
We have also created an entire undergraduate Bachelor of Science degree in artificial intelligence and machine learning for those students who wish to specialize in this area of computer science.
Dr. Shokoufandeh: Another important aspect to our teaching is to stay close to industry trends so that we can adapt our curricula accordingly. Most of our faculty are involved with industry in one way or another. And we have a group of corporate partners, as well as an advisory board, who actively engage and advise us on how we should prepare to adapt what and how we teach.
Dr. Salvucci: Despite the unclear road ahead, our students and faculty are very excited to continue exploring how AI can be used for the advancement of technology as well as the good of society.
Interviewer: This has been an extremely interesting, helpful, and hopeful conversation. Thank you very much for sharing your experience and perspective.