Economist's Warning: Why Colleges Are Failing to Prepare Students for the AI Revolution

 

Economist Tyler Cowen argues that up to one-third of a college curriculum should be dedicated to understanding and interacting with AI to prepare students for the future job market.

An influential economist is sounding the alarm: higher education is not moving fast enough, and it could be leaving a generation of students unprepared for the future of work. According to Tyler Cowen, a professor at George Mason University, colleges are at risk of "producing a generation of students who will go out on the labor market and be quite unprepared."

The Problem: Teaching Skills AIs Already Master

The core issue? Colleges spend too much time teaching students things that artificial intelligence already does exceptionally well. Think about the routine questions and basic knowledge that make up a large part of many courses.

"We teach things that are easy to test for," Cowen explained. "That is exactly what the AIs tend to excel at."

He argues there's little point in training students for skills "where the machine outcompetes the human." While some foundational knowledge is necessary to interact with AI effectively, the current focus is misguided and fails to prepare students for the jobs that will actually need human workers.

A Radical Proposal: The One-Third Rule

So, what's the solution? Cowen proposes a "huge change" to the standard curriculum.

"I think we should devote up to one-third of the curriculum to teaching students how to use, interact with, and spot the limitations of AIs," he said.

This would mean a fundamental shift away from rote memorization and toward practical AI literacy. Students would learn how to leverage AI as a tool, oversee its work, and, crucially, understand where it's likely to make mistakes. This change would equip them for a job market where roles in customer service, IT, and data processing are already being dramatically reshaped by automation.

The "Psychological Cost" of Being Unprepared

The consequences of this educational gap aren't just financial. Cowen warns of a profound "psychological cost" for graduates who feel obsolete before their careers even begin.

He fears that without the right training, many people will feel like "they do not fit into this world, and they'll be somewhat correct." This sense of displacement could lead to what he and co-author Avital Balwit called "perhaps the most profound identity crisis humanity has ever faced," forcing us to figure out how to live meaningful lives when we are no longer the "smartest and most capable entities."

For colleges, the message is clear: it's time to adapt or risk failing their students.

(This blog post was created with the assistance of AI. The original story was reported by Thibault Spirlet for Business Insider and can be found here: https://www.businessinsider.com/economist-tyler-cowen-college-students-trained-jobs-ai-work-2025-8)