Ever felt like the future is hurtling towards us faster than a caffeinated cheetah on rollerblades? Well, grab a seat, because a recent tidbit dropped by Andrew Yang is going to make you ponder your career path, especially if you’ve been eyeing a shiny law degree.
Yang recounted a conversation with a partner at a prominent law firm. The gist? AI isn’t just a fancy buzzword anymore; it’s actively doing the heavy lifting that used to be the bread and butter of first to third-year associates. Imagine this: a legal motion that would take a human associate a week to draft? AI can whip it up in an hour. And get this – the AI version is often better. Ouch.
The Law School Dilemma: A Reality Check
So, what does this mean for the bright-eyed, bushy-tailed folks currently applying to law school, dreaming of big firm life and even bigger salaries? It’s a pretty stark warning. The entry-level jobs that provided crucial experience (and paid off those hefty student loans) are rapidly diminishing. It’s like training for years to be a champion horse-and-buggy driver, only to find out cars were invented yesterday. A bit of a buzzkill, right?
For decades, the unspoken deal with higher education was simple: rack up a mountain of debt, get a degree, and enjoy a lifetime of higher income. It was an investment, a golden ticket. But in 2025, and certainly beyond, that deal is looking shakier than a Jenga tower after a toddler’s tantrum. The ‘investment’ model of costing tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars is rapidly losing its luster when the return isn’t guaranteed.
The Irony of Innovation
Here’s the kicker: Silicon Valley, the supposed hub of innovation, has been surprisingly quiet on solving the crippling student debt crisis. Yet, they’re the very ones creating the tools that are disrupting these traditional career paths. A little ironic, don’t you think? It’s like throwing a wrench into the gears and then shrugging, ‘Someone should really invent a better gear!’
So, the million-dollar question (or rather, the hundreds-of-thousands-of-dollars-in-debt question) is: When will we see radically cheaper higher education? Education is still good and necessary, absolutely. But its price tag needs to match the new reality of an AI-driven job market and economy.
We need a system that prepares us for a future where AI handles the mundane, leaving humans to tackle the truly complex, creative, and uniquely human challenges. And that system shouldn’t require you to sell a kidney to afford it. The future of work is here, and it’s brought a rather smart, very efficient robot with it. It’s time our education system caught up, offering real value without breaking the bank. Otherwise, we might just be training the next generation for jobs that no longer exist. Something to chew on, isn’t it?
Caracole