TYLER, Texas (KLTV) – When discussing artificial intelligence, one thing’s clear— it is not going anywhere. It’s not just changing how students learn in schools, but it’s reshaping the job market, too.
“The future of AI is that it’s going to be a part of our lives,“ says Dr. Shadnik Dakshit, Computer Science Professor at UT Tyler, who is preparing his students for the future of a culture shift in A.I.
“We have to understand how AI tools work, even how to build or maintain them,” says Dr. Dakshit.
In his classes, they use different A.I softwares similar like ChatGPT where students are encouraged to solve real-world problems rather than just building resume fillers.
“With the proliferation of AI and large language models like ChatGPT, we have seen a lot more interest from companies in terms of how do you build a chatbot?” says Dr. Dakshit.
According to the Artificial Intelligence Market Size and Trends, the Global A.I Market is booming—from around $196.6 billion in 2023 to a projected $1.8 trillion by 2030, growing at a compound annual growth rate of 36.6%
“I think entry level positions are now expected to work alongside AI tools, and that’s the change that I’m talking about that’s going to happen in the next few years,” says Dr. Dakshit.
But for recent college grads, the job market is competitive.
“For my job for example, over 2000 people applied for the job, only 38 people got in, so a lot of people are applying for jobs,” says Matthew Castillo, a recent Computer Science grad student from UT Tyler.
He was able to secure a job as a data analyst before graduation—but has seen his classmates struggle.
“I’ve got friends that have gone to college and decided, hey, you know, I’m going to do a trade or I’m going to work with a company and start kind of at the bottom and just work my way up,” says Castillo.
During his last semester in college, Castillo began a startup developing an A.I-powered fire detector in which his friends were interested in joining.
“We’ve already done some tests with the fire department here in Tyler, and we were over two minutes and 15 seconds faster than the traditional fire detector,” says Castillo.
Dr. Dakshit says it’s all about being innovated, especially in this generation.
“One key thing to remember is AI is not going to take away jobs it’s more about aligning our skills to work with AI.”
But Castillo says AI will start taking some white collar jobs.
“Because of how efficient they are, how fast they are. you know, they never have to take leave off, so I definitely think there’s going to be a huge shift,” says Castillo.
According to the National Association of Colleges and Employers, the projected average starting salary falls between $70,OOO and $100,000.
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