Will AI pull the career ladder up out of reach – or just change what it looks like?

Once, a university degree was widely seen as a “ticket” to securing high-paying jobs and social mobility.

Now, as artificial intelligence (AI) promises to revolutionise the labour market, it’s university students and recent graduates who face some of the greatest uncertainty.

How do you pick a major or a career when it isn’t obvious what jobs will even exist in 10 years’ time?

Back in May, the chief executive of the AI company Anthropic, Dario Amodei, claimed AI could eradicate half of all entry-level white collar jobs over the next five years.

At this stage, it’s still up for debate whether AI will lead to such a mass wipe-out of graduate roles, or just change what these jobs look like.

Either way, we have a collective duty to prepare young people for an AI-driven world. Students, educators, employers and the government all have a role to play.

First foot on the ladder

In many white collar or “knowledge work” careers, the “lower rungs” of the career ladder have traditionally consisted of entry-level roles that centre on tasks such as data entry, routine report writing, document review or basic analysis.

These jobs were not only a rite of passage, but also a critical training ground for developing industry-specific skills, professional judgement and workplace confidence.

Many of these tasks are now at risk of being disrupted by generative AI.