what value do you provide?

Author: ethancedwards8

posts/what-value-do-you-provide.mdx

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+---
+title: What Value Do You Provide?
+author: Ethan Carter Edwards
+date: '2026-05-09'
+description: In a world of increasingly capable AI, what value do you provide?
+image: '/logo.jpg'
+tags: ['philosophy', 'ai', 'technology', 'education', 'economics', 'jobs']
+---
+
+## Respect, man
+
+I recently overheard the following interaction in the Leverett dining hall while
+attending office hours for my Operating Systems class (with anonymized names):
+
+Jeff sees his friend in the dining hall, "oh hey Brian, what are you doing here?"
+
+Brian replies, "I'm here for Differential Topology office hours. I'm having some trouble with this week's problem set."
+
+J: "I took that class last year, I'm sure now you could just chat (referring to using ChatGPT to solve the problems) the questions."
+
+B: "I mean, sure, but I want to understand the material and do it myself."
+
+Jeff, expressing his admiration, "oh, respect, man, I would have totally chatted them if I could have. It does most of my classes for me now."
+
+## AI and Jobs
+
+There's no denying that AI is going to change the world (for better or for
+worse). It already is. While the future is too uncertain to make concrete
+predictions about the job market in any industry, many economists predict
+massive layoffs that could impact tens (hundreds?) of millions of people if AI
+becomes sufficiently advanced and cheap enough to replace some types of jobs.
+
+I study Computer Science, so one of my most recurring and worrying thoughts is
+"what is AI going to do to Software Engineering?" It seems like every month, a
+new model comes out that blows previous ones out of the water on all
+benchmarks, and then layoffs follow shortly thereafter (though I think this is
+shortsighted, but that's for another post). A year ago, I thought AI was a neat
+party trick that could be useful to write one-off scripts. Now, any given
+frontier lab model can do my peers' graduate-level CS, Math, and Statistics
+homework, and is probably a better developer than most of them.
+
+I would be lying if I said I was not worried about how far models might advance
+in another year, two, or even three (when I graduate). I think timelines like
+"AI will replace all Software Engineers in 3-6 months" are stupid, mostly
+marketing, and completely unrealistic for various reasons, but I would be lying
+if I said I wasn't worried at least a little bit.
+
+To be fully explicit, I don't think Software Engineering will be the only
+industry affected. Lots (all?) of white-collar jobs are probably vulnerable.
+Even if this rhetoric is just unrealistic hype, I think the outcome is far too
+dangerous to dismiss or not consider seriously.
+
+## Why do we educate?
+
+A common criticism that I hear of modern education (but vehemently disagree
+with) is that it is too abstract and not practical enough. The people who make
+these statements usually tend to follow it with the idea that education should
+teach specific skills and tools that are useful and in demand in the workforce.
+Initially, these statements seem reasonable, but are ultimately misguided for
+the vast majority of jobs (and I suspect this will become increasingly true).
+
+Note that I think the trades (electricians, plumbers, construction, nurses,
+etc.) require practical skills, but good practitioners are educated (see
+below). Even then, the skills required for these careers are often learned on
+the job through apprenticeships or shadowing, rather than inside the classroom.
+
+So what is the point of education? In my mind, there are two elements:
+
+1: To become deeper, more critical, and capable thinkers and problem solvers.
+This is primarily achieved by repeatedly doing things that are hard in various
+domains.
+
+2: To become a better citizen of the world. This is achieved through exposure
+to diverse content that forces one to confront their biases and assumptions.
+
+Both of these elements are worthwhile pursuits on their own, but they also make
+a person employable. They are also inseparable, and the second is a natural
+consequence of the first.
+
+Notice the list doesn't include "learn to compute a derivative", "write a
+really good policy memo", or "memorize historical facts". While you'll probably
+have left college being able to do these things, they were never the point.
+
+History has repeatedly shown us that technology changes the way we do work and
+live life. AI is no exception. Technology makes jobs that were previously
+stable and common obsolete overnight. While I don't have any empirical data to
+back this claim up, it seems pretty obvious (think about "human computers" that
+did math being replaced by the computers we have today).
+
+On the flip side, new jobs were created as a result of computers. While some
+people seem to think AI will replace all jobs, I really don't know what will
+happen. Personally, I think of this as an AI Wager (with people upskilling
+being the positive outcome, though I recognize that this has problems).
+
+There is short-term pain for those affected, and unfortunately, it seems hard to
+avoid in our capitalistic society. As people's skills are made obsolete by
+technology, they lose their jobs, miss mortgage payments, and have to make
+impossible decisions like picking between their life-saving medication or food
+for their family. This is not the way things should be, and we have a lot of
+work to do as a society.
+
+Wherever the world and technology go, it is important that we prioritize
+humanity.
+
+## Prompting Isn't A Real Skill
+
+So how do we survive? How does my generation ensure they are not left behind
+(more so than we already have been)? I don't have a concrete recommendation
+like learn to code (in fact, you should probably run far, far away unless you
+have a passion for it).
+
+We survive by being educated. As our skills become irrelevant, the only thing
+that we have left is our ability to dynamically adapt to a changing world and
+continue solving hard problems, and if our skills become obsolete, our
+foundation of problem-solving and critical thinking will set us apart. This is
+the value that we provide when concrete skills become commoditized by
+technology.
+
+And if I'm wrong? If humans are totally replaced? Society will probably
+collapse, and it won't matter anyway. This is the other half of my wager.
+
+So, the next time you have an assignment and are confronted with the decision of
+using AI or doing it by hand, I challenge you to do it by hand.
+
+Not only will you maintain your academic integrity (yes, using ChatGPT to write
+your essay or do your math homework for your IS cheating), but you will learn
+more and become a more capable thinker in the process. Using AI to "check a box"
+and complete an assignment is a waste of everyone involved's time.
+
+This isn't to say that AI cannot be used to learn and develop these skills. It
+definitely can be. But I have an ocean-front property in Idaho to sell you if
+you believe students only use it this way.
+
+To the educators who believe that their students need to learn to use AI or be
+left behind, I have two things to say: 
+
+1: Students are going to use it outside of the classroom (and inside, whether
+you like/know it or not) and learn to use it regardless. In fact, they probably
+know more about it than you. Just as I grew up in the internet-native
+generation, I suspect there will be an "AI-native" generation.
+
+2: The technology is advancing fast enough that anything you teach a senior in
+August will be obsolete by the time they graduate in May or June.
+
+But across all of modern history, what has not become obsolete? Problem-solving
+skills and critical thinking. If your students have those two things, they can
+learn whatever hot new skill the workforce needs. If all a student knows how
+to do is prompt an AI, so do millions of others. Congratulations.
+
+To the students who believe that the AI is better than them at doing their
+writing/coding/math homework (yes, it might be), so there is no point in
+learning:
+
+1: The end product of writing/coding/doing math was never the point. Refer to
+my two points on education.
+
+2: Any fool can feed coins into a slot machine and pull the arm. What value do
+you provide?