{"id":202583,"date":"2025-06-21T13:02:15","date_gmt":"2025-06-21T13:02:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/202583\/"},"modified":"2025-06-21T13:02:15","modified_gmt":"2025-06-21T13:02:15","slug":"openai-ceo-sam-altman-says-ai-can-rival-someone-with-a-phd-just-weeks-after-saying-its-ready-for-entry-level-jobs-so-whats-left-for-grads","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/202583\/","title":{"rendered":"OpenAI CEO Sam Altman says AI can rival someone with a PhD\u2014just weeks after saying it’s ready for entry-level jobs. So what’s left for grads?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Earlier this month, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman revealed that the technology can already perform the tasks equal to that of an entry-level employee<\/a>. Now, in a podcast posted just last week, the ChatGPT mastermind went even further\u2014saying AI can even perform tasks typically expected of the smartest grads with a doctorate.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn some sense AIs are like a top competitive programmer in the world now or AIs can get a top score on the world\u2019s hardest math competitions or AIs can do problems that I\u2019d expect an expert PhD in my field to do,\u201d he told the Uncapped podcast<\/a> (hosted by Sam\u2019s brother, Jack Altman).<\/p>\n

As companies like Amazon<\/a> have admitted they will soon cut their corporate ranks<\/a> thanks to AI and Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei warning<\/a> that the technology could wipe out half of all entry-level, white collar jobs\u2014it begs the question: What jobs will be left for those tossing their graduation caps into the air in the coming years?<\/p>\n

A shifting\u2014but not hopeless\u2014job market, experts say<\/p>\n

Already, this graduation season has brought one of the toughest job markets for new graduates. The unemployment rate among bachelor\u2019s degree graduates rose to 6.1% in May, up from just 4.4% the month prior, according to most recent data published by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis<\/a> (FRED). Additional federal data<\/a> analyzing outcomes by college majors shows that fields linked to AI exposure, including commercial art & graphic design, fine arts, and computer engineering, all have higher unemployment rates\u2014each above 7%.<\/p>\n

However, in the tech industry in particular, volatility in the jobs market is nothing new, said Art Zeile, CEO of tech career platform Dice<\/a>. After all, nearly 600,000 tech employees lost their jobs between 2022 and 2024, according to Layoffs.fyi<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is no question that it is a challenging time to be a new graduate entering the job market. We\u2019ve seen some reductions in hiring, especially for entry-level roles, as companies reassess their headcount and look for more specialized skills,\u201d Zeile told Fortune.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I wouldn\u2019t hit the panic button quite yet.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rather, today\u2019s competitive environment is an opportunity for young people to further sharpen their skills and enter the workforce with a larger focus, Zeile added. It\u2019s a message further echoed by Tiffany Hsieh, director of the Center for Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Work<\/a> at Jobs for the Future.<\/p>\n

\u201cYoung people looking for technology or graphic design roles should be thinking about how they upskill, reskill, or pivot, but others in less impacted ones like elementary school teachers and civil engineers need to worry less,\u201d she told Fortune.<\/p>\n

The jobs of the future<\/p>\n

Even Altman remains optimistic that AI won\u2019t completely terrorize the future of work because, he says, it\u2019ll also open up new opportunities.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of jobs will go away. A lot of jobs will just change dramatically, but we have always been really good at figuring out new things to do and status games or ways to be useful to each other,\u201d Altman told his brother. \u201cI\u2019m not a believer that that ever runs out.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 40-year-old billionaire cited the podcast industry as a space that has grown exponentially in the last decade, and the jobs of the future will simply be ones that sound \u201csillier and sillier\u201d from our current perspective.<\/p>\n

Ziele predicts that in the coming years, more jobs will be centered around AI experience designing; data storytelling, and AI governance, security, and ethical implementation. Those skilled in the development of agentic AI<\/a> will also be at an advantage.<\/p>\n

\u201cProfessionals who master agentic AI, which is still in its nascent stages, may become invaluable to companies that want to automate significant chunks of their workflows,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Some jobs of the future may look like \u201cFrankenstein roles\u201d\u2014like a story designer or human resources designer<\/a>\u2014that lean on durable skills and pull together various human-centered tasks, according to Hsieh.\u00a0<\/p>\n

While the future remains uncertain, there are still many roles in fields like the skilled trades or healthcare that are growing<\/a> and are relatively stable from AI, Hsieh added.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s okay to explore different roles in industries you may not have planned on\u2014you will still learn and build skills in any role,\u201d she encouraged Gen Z. \u201cWe are all going to need to be more comfortable with career switching and adopt a lifelong learning mindset.\u201d<\/p>\n

How to land a job in today\u2019s rocky job market<\/p>\n

Landing a job today may feel like an uphill battle<\/a>, but entry-level roles haven\u2019t disappeared entirely\u2014there are just new strategies required to secure them.<\/p>\n

But because AI has made it easier than ever to curate resumes and cover letters<\/a>, that\u2019s not enough to stand out from the crowd. Hsieh encouraged graduates to focus on their network and portfolio.<\/p>\n

\u201cDemonstrated experience is a valuable currency in a world where entry-level roles are scarcer and therefore more competitive,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cBuilding MVP tools and solutions with AI for a target industry or to solve a challenge in your community could be a creative way to demonstrate initiative, domain expertise, and durable skills like critical thinking.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a sense, the job search should be treated like a personal marketing campaign, Zeile suggested.<\/p>\n

\u201cHiring managers are often looking for potential over experience, so it\u2019s essential to articulate your passion and willingness to learn new skills during the interview process,\u201d he added. \u201cContinuous learning and upskilling, particularly in areas like AI, data analysis, or cloud technologies, can also help to set early-career professionals apart from their competition.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Earlier this month, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman revealed that the technology can already perform the tasks equal to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":202584,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3163],"tags":[323,1942,3857,3858,33828,897,1318,20208,22793,53,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-202583","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-artificial-intelligence","8":"tag-ai","9":"tag-artificial-intelligence","10":"tag-career-advice","11":"tag-careers","12":"tag-graduation","13":"tag-jobs","14":"tag-openai","15":"tag-sam-altman","16":"tag-skills","17":"tag-technology","18":"tag-uk","19":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114721491675314806","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/202583","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=202583"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/202583\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/202584"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=202583"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=202583"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=202583"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}