With AI, what's the use of a college education?

Twenty-nine years ago, IBM's computer Deep Blue beat the reigning world chess champion Garry Kasparov. It has since become clear that computers are superior to humans at the Game of Kings. Yet despite that, the popularity of chess among humans has soared.

According to a recent podcast by The Economist, the growing popularity of chess provides insights regarding the impactful roles humans can continue to play notwithstanding the ever-increasing presence and potency of artificial intelligence. Educational institutions must be mindful of these insights as we prepare the current generation of students for the AI future that they will have to navigate:

Versatility. AI is rapidly changing the nature of work. It has proved superior at mining, summarizing and analyzing data and information, at administrative operations such as scheduling and calendaring, and at generating new artwork from source designs and images. However, it is not yet adept at dealing with multifaceted, dynamic tasks requiring versatility and subtle judgment — scenarios where the system must make decisions based on changing contexts, where complexity increases over time, or where new information or environments are introduced.

Colleges can prepare students to succeed by encouraging them to pursue multiple majors and/or minors: art and design students think differently than engineers; business students apply analytical frameworks that differ from those used in the humanities. Survey research by The Wall Street Journal finds that completing a multidisciplinary college degree enhances professional success. Together with a disposition toward adaptability, it diversifies the skills that graduates can draw on in a dynamic economy.

Social connections. As social animals, we instinctively trust fellow humans more than machines. The ability to develop meaningful social connections is a core skill necessary to the future team-oriented workforce, and focusing on active learning and faculty mentoring builds the capacity to work with others and cultivate personal resilience. Social connections are a key reason why students valued the return to campus after the COVID-19 pandemic, even though helpful new technologies such as Zoom allowed us to work and study remotely.

Applied learning. We learn by doing. That is why Alfred University promotes experiential, hands-on learning for our students in tandem with technologies such as AI. Our AI minor teaches students to integrate it into their studies, manage AI agents and benefit from machine learning.

Judgment. It is now possible to learn chess more rapidly and skillfully than ever thanks to powerful teaching apps. Striving to become an elite player without using these tools is a fool's errand. That said, these are only tools to teach, not compete. To protect the integrity of the Game of Kings, in-person chess tournaments require referees and extensive screening for banned devices such as smart watches and smart glasses. The attraction of the game is still pitting the best human minds against each other.

While professional success is different from winning at chess, sound judgment is similarly required when it comes to deciding which tech tools to use, and when. David Deming, the dean of Harvard College and a leading labor economist, finds that in simulated, team-based tasks, the best managers are those who have the judgment and social skills to figure out which team members should do what. This outcome holds whether a team member is a someone or a something.

The more we deepen students' versatility, social connections, active learning and judgment, the more successful they will be in today's AI-impacted world.

This guest essay reflects the views of Mark Zupan, president of Alfred University, in western New York.