We believe the best research teams are built through context, taste and a real feel for where the field is headed next. Recruiting may be an especially good fit for candidates with taste, because their responsibilities at OpenAI include finding people who will move the frontier forward, not just filling roles.
I can honestly say that if I was 18 now, there is no way I would go to university only to leave with huge debts and poor job prospects. Instead, I would become an electrician or similar trade.
To explain why, Levie pointed to economist William Stanley Jevons. In 1865, Jevons observed that more efficient steam engines didn't curb coal use in England but drove it higher, as cheaper energy fueled new industries - a dynamic now known as the Jevons paradox. Levie said the same pattern has repeated itself in computing, with each major wave of cheaper technology - from mainframes to minicomputers to PCs - dramatically expanding adoption.
It's not very encouraging. According to very recent research from Stanford's Digital Economy Lab, published in August of this year, companies that adopt AI at higher rates are hiring juniors 13% less. Another study from Harvard published in October of this year cites that early-career folks from 22-25 years old, in these same fields, are experiencing greater unemployment while senior hiring remains stable or even growing.
LinkedIn's chief economic opportunity officer recently warned that AI is "breaking" entry-level jobs that have historically served as stepping stones for young workers. As Aneesh Raman wrote in The New York Times, "Breaking first is the bottom rung of the career ladder." AI tools are performing simple coding and debugging tasks that junior software developers once did to gain experience, along with work that young employees in the legal and retail sectors traditionally handled.
On Wednesday, the company unveiled its OpenAI Jobs Platform, which is designed to act as a job matchmaker. It uses AI to access its repertoire of experienced candidates and connect them to opportunities that match their skill set. The news comes after Salesforce's CEO confirmed a 4,000-person layoff and attributed some of the cuts to AI, heightening fears of AI-provoked job loss.
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
With so many people seeking further education as they get edged out of the job market by AI, Tarifi offered a different perspective: that nobody "should ever do a PhD unless they are obsessed with the field." The AI veteran also told BI that he'd advise caution to anyone looking to get into the fields of medicine and law, which take years - and often hundreds of thousands of dollars - to complete a degree.
