The ‘Class of AI’ Enters the Workforce
5/29/202622 min
The class of 2026 is the most AI-native group of graduates to come out of college, with ChatGPT debuting their freshman year. WSJ’s Allison Pohle reports on how this cohort used AI in school and what future employers expect from them. And we hear from various college students and recent graduates about their hopes and fears when it comes to AI and their careers. Ryan Knutson hosts. Further Listening: - AI Is Coming for Entry-Level Jobs
- Is the AI Boom… a Bubble? Sign up for WSJ’s free What’s News newsletter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsRyan Knutson· Host0:00
[music plays] A funny thing has been happening at college graduations this spring.
Speaker 10:09
The rise of artificial intelligence is the next industrial revolution. Al- [laughs] [booing] Whoa. What happened? [laughs] Okay. I struck a chord. M- may I finish?
Ryan Knutson· Host0:31
[laughs] [music plays] A lot of commencement speakers are getting booed when they bring up AI.
Speaker 20:39
This time it was the architects of artificial intelligence. Interesting.
Ryan Knutson· Host0:43
[cheering] This reaction is happening all over the place, from Florida to Tennessee to Arizona. Why are all these college students booing commencement speakers when they bring up AI?
Alison Pohle0:57
Well, you're expecting people to have a positive reaction to something that's an existential threat kind of to their careers.
Ryan Knutson· Host1:07
Our colleague Alison Poling covers the workplace.
Alison Pohle1:10
You have a commencement speaker, and you're waiting for them to say something inspiring, and then they tell you that AI is the future, and it's this inevitable thing that you need to accept, and it's gonna radically change the world. Well, that message isn't really going over with a bunch of people