Depending on whether people go to private or public colleges, the cost of a four-year degree runs between $108,000 and $230,000. Post-college costs, driven by loans, can add another $100,000 or more. There may be a solution for people with artificial intelligence (AI) expertise. They may not need to attend college at all.
According to PwC’s 2025 Global AI Jobs Barometer, “Employer demand for formal degrees is declining particularly quickly for jobs exposed to AI, especially jobs more highly automated by AI.” The growth of jobs that involve artificial intelligence is 66% faster than that of other jobs.
AI-trained workers are likely to have success in several sectors, particularly Information and Communications Technology, Professional Services, and Financial Services. For the PwC study, this was based on AI job postings by sector from 2012 to 2024.
The bad news for some people entering the workforce is the extent to which people without AI skills face challenges to their employment. The new study has what PwC calls “jobs less exposed to AI are growing faster than more exposed jobs.” It is not just a matter of training. It is a matter of whether people want to work in areas where artificial intelligence is already part of the workflow.
The PwC forecast is not entirely new. Goldman Sachs looked at 900 occupations. Some of their employment experts reviewed this. “They further estimate that, of those occupations that are exposed, roughly a quarter to as much as half of their workload could be replaced.”
The PwC and Goldman Sachs studies have little in common in terms of samples and methodology. However, they point in the same direction. AI will have a profound effect on the workforce.
What neither study says is the extent to which AI will cause massive unemployment or just make people in most jobs much more productive.
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