AI /Reid Hoffman interview: “revenge of the English major”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think they already are asking for english, history, philosophy and classics.

No one wants a CS coder....

CS from the elites is still doing very well. English/classics/philosophy are more and more in demand every day. Though too it is much easier in those majors from elites.

Evidence of those majors being more in demand? Classics departments across the country are crumbling. Philosophy departments hardly have any majors. English is and always will be popular.

Do your own research.
Check any Ivy’s handshake.
The data is there.

Check any ivys handshake? What are you talking about? Most handshake postings are banking or stem related.

[Anonymous]

You guys are so myopic.
This is about visionary leaders looking beyond the landscape today and see how fast things are changing.

Not sure how it will play out, but it makes sense that in a few years, it would be the revenge of the English majors.
The world is different.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Who is supposedly hiring these humanities majors and for how much $$s?

Yeah, I know that top Ibanks and consulting firms have always hired ones from elite schools, but still often in smaller numbers than kids with quantitative backgrounds.

There are always these announcements but the specifics are often murky to nonexistent.

My kid works for an AI company and they are desperate for ML engineers and the like…but not clamoring for humanities at all. Sure, they will hire in sales and non-tech stuff…but aren’t specifically looking for it, just don’t care so much about undergrad major.

This is what I mean above. It's a little safer to major in classics at Princeton now, but serious algorithmic and quantitative skill is at as high a premium as ever.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Anyone catch the Fareed Zakaria interview today with Hoffman on the impact of AI on job market/new world order with AI, and that yrs the “revenge of the English major” - meaning it’s a valuable major now in a world where other tasks are commoditized and diminished in value?

I watched it. His point was that English majors (and equivalent humanities majors) are better at crafting prompts than STEM folks. Generative AI is fueled by natural language prompts, so the ability to translate various business needs into clear, effective prompts is crucial to the success of AI.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyone catch the Fareed Zakaria interview today with Hoffman on the impact of AI on job market/new world order with AI, and that yrs the “revenge of the English major” - meaning it’s a valuable major now in a world where other tasks are commoditized and diminished in value?

I watched it. His point was that English majors (and equivalent humanities majors) are better at crafting prompts than STEM folks. Generative AI is fueled by natural language prompts, so the ability to translate various business needs into clear, effective prompts is crucial to the success of AI.

Outside of coding, you have to think what kind of jobs will be needed in a post-AI economy or world.
Who has the skills to survive when 90% of today’s job descriptions can be done using prompts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You guys are so myopic.
This is about visionary leaders looking beyond the landscape today and see how fast things are changing.

Not sure how it will play out, but it makes sense that in a few years, it would be the revenge of the English majors.
The world is different.

It makes sense in what way? English majors take up managerial roles that have to be filled but don’t really expand without more demand- you only need so many marketing managers. Every tech-based product sold needs many tech people to actually ensure each component works and continues updating.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think they already are asking for english, history, philosophy and classics.

No one wants a CS coder....

This isn’t true. Everyone wants coders, there’s just a lot more of them.

+1. Coding is necessary for evertthing but very entry level work in AI. Google it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think they already are asking for english, history, philosophy and classics.

No one wants a CS coder....

This isn’t true. Everyone wants coders, there’s just a lot more of them.

+1. Coding is necessary for evertthing but very entry level work in AI. Google it.

Your sentence is incomprehensible, so there’s nothing to google.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Anyone catch the Fareed Zakaria interview today with Hoffman on the impact of AI on job market/new world order with AI, and that yrs the “revenge of the English major” - meaning it’s a valuable major now in a world where other tasks are commoditized and diminished in value?

Mark Cuban was saying that a decade ago.

STEM is dead. The real job prospects for the future are for humanities majors.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyone catch the Fareed Zakaria interview today with Hoffman on the impact of AI on job market/new world order with AI, and that yrs the “revenge of the English major” - meaning it’s a valuable major now in a world where other tasks are commoditized and diminished in value?

Mark Cuban was saying that a decade ago.

STEM is dead. The real job prospects for the future are for humanities majors.

Such as…

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyone catch the Fareed Zakaria interview today with Hoffman on the impact of AI on job market/new world order with AI, and that yrs the “revenge of the English major” - meaning it’s a valuable major now in a world where other tasks are commoditized and diminished in value?

I watched it. His point was that English majors (and equivalent humanities majors) are better at crafting prompts than STEM folks. Generative AI is fueled by natural language prompts, so the ability to translate various business needs into clear, effective prompts is crucial to the success of AI.

People should read the NYT article about how the CEO of Klarna is just giddy about replacing people with AI.

His examples:

- got rid of most of the marketing and creatives working on advertising and marketing because AI can produce what’s needed for corporate marketing

- reduced in-house legal staff because AI can do first drafts of standard corporate contracts and any legal research

- replaced most customer support people with AI chatbots

He hasn’t hired anyone since 2023 even though the company is much larger.

No surprise, most of the existing 2000 employees are technical employees.

So again, can anyone tell me what all these humanities majors will actually be hired to do in this AI future?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyone catch the Fareed Zakaria interview today with Hoffman on the impact of AI on job market/new world order with AI, and that yrs the “revenge of the English major” - meaning it’s a valuable major now in a world where other tasks are commoditized and diminished in value?

I watched it. His point was that English majors (and equivalent humanities majors) are better at crafting prompts than STEM folks. Generative AI is fueled by natural language prompts, so the ability to translate various business needs into clear, effective prompts is crucial to the success of AI.

People should read the NYT article about how the CEO of Klarna is just giddy about replacing people with AI.

His examples:

- got rid of most of the marketing and creatives working on advertising and marketing because AI can produce what’s needed for corporate marketing

- reduced in-house legal staff because AI can do first drafts of standard corporate contracts and any legal research

- replaced most customer support people with AI chatbots

He hasn’t hired anyone since 2023 even though the company is much larger.

No surprise, most of the existing 2000 employees are technical employees.

So again, can anyone tell me what all these humanities majors will actually be hired to do in this AI future?

humanities majors wouldn't be doing any of that stuff.
they'd be taking what the tech people do and refining it. So manage the techies.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyone catch the Fareed Zakaria interview today with Hoffman on the impact of AI on job market/new world order with AI, and that yrs the “revenge of the English major” - meaning it’s a valuable major now in a world where other tasks are commoditized and diminished in value?

I watched it. His point was that English majors (and equivalent humanities majors) are better at crafting prompts than STEM folks. Generative AI is fueled by natural language prompts, so the ability to translate various business needs into clear, effective prompts is crucial to the success of AI.

People should read the NYT article about how the CEO of Klarna is just giddy about replacing people with AI.

His examples:

- got rid of most of the marketing and creatives working on advertising and marketing because AI can produce what’s needed for corporate marketing

- reduced in-house legal staff because AI can do first drafts of standard corporate contracts and any legal research

- replaced most customer support people with AI chatbots

He hasn’t hired anyone since 2023 even though the company is much larger.

No surprise, most of the existing 2000 employees are technical employees.

So again, can anyone tell me what all these humanities majors will actually be hired to do in this AI future?

Maybe google instead of asking people to do the work for you????

Why Google Hires Humanities Majors?
https://imagine.jhu.edu/blog/2024/02/15/why-google-hires-humanities-majors/

I'm an AI startup founder and love hiring liberal arts grads. They give us a surprising edge.
https://www.businessinsider.com/ai-companies-hiring-liberal-arts-humanities-grads-2024-2

Why Studying Humanities and Arts Is Key to Developing Artificial Intelligence
https://bigcloud.global/why-studying-humanities-and-arts-is-key-to-developing-artificial-intelligence/

Humanities majors still matter in age of AI
https://www.emorywheel.com/article/2024/11/humanities-majors-still-matter-in-age-of-ai

How will the rise of AI in the workplace impact liberal arts education?
https://www.highereddive.com/news/artificial-intelligence-liberal-arts-education/720640/

[Anonymous]

I mean there's so much out there.
You are all just lazy CS drones if you can't find this on your own.

We Need Anthropologists Everywhere—Especially in AI
https://alumni.cornell.edu/cornellians/boyd-humanities-stem/

Why a humanities degree can AI-proof your career
Studying philosophy armed me with skills that can’t be replicated by tech
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/jobs/career-advice/why-humanities-degree-protect-you-against-ai/

there's even a whole post on here from 2 weeks ago: https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/1250789.page

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I mean there's so much out there.
You are all just lazy CS drones if you can't find this on your own.

We Need Anthropologists Everywhere—Especially in AI
https://alumni.cornell.edu/cornellians/boyd-humanities-stem/

Why a humanities degree can AI-proof your career
Studying philosophy armed me with skills that can’t be replicated by tech
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/jobs/career-advice/why-humanities-degree-protect-you-against-ai/

there's even a whole post on here from 2 weeks ago: https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/1250789.page

I’m not trying to say you didn’t read anything you linked, but you didn’t. This is the lazy argument. These people are writing about why the humanities should be more respected, not that they are.