Big Tech and Higher Education Join Forces to Integrate AI into College Curricula

Big Tech's A.I. Certifications Are Increasingly Valuable in the Job Market

Workers with A.I. skills can earn nearly $25,000 more per year than those without, according to a recent survey. Workers across industries are clamoring for artificial intelligence skills as the necessity for -- and the value of -- those skills skyrockets. A.I.-skilled workers can earn nearly $25,000 more per year on average simply by having experience using A.I. tools relevant to the job, according to a recent report from recruiting software company Ringover. In many cases, it's not traditional educational settings providing those skills, but rather A.I. certifications. For example, Coursera's free courses "A.I. For Everyone" and "Generative A.I. for Everyone," hosted by A.I. education software DeepLearning.AI, are popular for beginners. They each take 5-6 hours to complete, making them much more concise than a college semester. Sign Up For Our Daily Newsletter Sign Up Thank you for signing up! By clicking submit, you agree to our <a href="http://observermedia.com/terms">terms of service</a> and acknowledge we may use your information to send you emails, product samples, and promotions on this website and other properties. You can opt out anytime. See all of our newsletters Google (GOOGL), meanwhile, has its own $49 A.I. Essentials Course, as well as a $75 million A.I. Opportunity Fund designed to spread the course at no cost to those who need it, like underserved communities, public-sector workers and nonprofit organizations across the U.S. Designed and taught by Google's own A.I. experts, the approximately 10-hour course teaches workers foundational skills, best practices and responsible use in the realm of A.I. One grant recipient of the Google fund, the nonprofit Goodwill Industries International, is funneling A.I. training to local communities. More than 80 percent of Americans live within 10 miles of a Goodwill store. "I think of a program like ours as more than a stopgap," Steve Preston, president and CEO of Goodwill, told Observer. "There will always be the need to support people who do not have access to training through more traditional channels if we want to ensure people who need those skills don't fall through the cracks." Another major provider of A.I. certifications is Amazon (AMZN) Web Services (AWS), which offers learning opportunities for technical and non-technical workers. In a recently announced initiative, Amazon aims to provide free A.I. training to two million people by 2025. Bolivar Llerena, a senior associate at Kyndryl, a multinational IT company, holds A.I. certifications from IBM, Google and AWS. "Whenever there's a current trend or something new, I'm there, learning all I can about it," Llerena told Observer. Based in Ecuador, Llerena chose certifications over a formal education for the flexibility and practical focus they offer in a fast-paced industry, something traditional universities haven't yet competed with. Artificial intelligence degrees are trickling in at major U.S. universities such as the Pennsylvania State University, Carnegie Mellon and University of California, to name a few. However, undergraduate degrees take time and are more suited for younger people who have yet to enter the workforce. Even then, undergraduate college enrollment dropped 8 percent from 2019 to 2022, a steep decline that could be attributed to rising tuition, inflation and the lasting impact of the student loan crisis. Meanwhile, technology skills are considered particularly perishable, meaning they are updated frequently and thus have a shorter half-life. From that vantage point, it makes sense that shorter, more frequent certification opportunities have become increasingly attractive to working professionals seeking upward mobility and staying power. Llerena looked into the curriculum at his local university but found it was a bit outdated. This led to a search beyond the traditional educational landscape. AWS Educate kickstarted his learning journey. Over time, he pursued more A.I.-focused courses to account for the fast-evolving technology landscape. Jenni Troutman, director of products and services for training and certification at AWS, told Observer, "Today's hiring and learning and development teams acknowledge certifications as legitimate proof of people's working knowledge in technical concepts they otherwise may not gain from a four-year degree or previous work experience." Tech giants like Google and Amazon are far from the only companies introducing A.I. certifications. A range of smaller organizations offer free and paid courses, which can be found through a quick Google search and on social media. In these cases, trustworthiness may not be a given, and background research on any offering is necessary. Reddit users are already reporting A.I. training course scams they've experienced. Rather than a stopgap while traditional education catches up, online classes, boot camps, and other methods of gaining practical experience that employers are looking for have become learning destinations all their own. This is true for a range of groups, from people already in Silicon Valley's orbit to low-wage workers with untapped talent and potential who lack the specific skills to compete for well-paying jobs that require those skills. "Offering access to digital skills training, including effective use of A.I., provides more equitable access to learning, career opportunities and career growth," Goodwill's Preston said.

For College Students -- And For Higher Ed Itself -- AI Is A Required Course

Some of the nation's biggest tech companies have announced efforts to reskill people to avoid job losses caused by artificial intelligence, even as they work to perfect the technology that could eliminate millions of those jobs. It's fair to ask, however: What should college students and prospective students, weighing their choices and possible time and financial expenses, think of this? The news this spring was encouraging for people seeking to reinvent their careers -- "reskilling" -- to grab middle-class jobs and a shot at economic security. "Tech giants hatch a plan for AI job losses: Reskill 95 million in 10 years," reads one recent headline. The story details plans for a group including Google, IBM, Intel, and Microsoft to help people who have lost or are about to lose their jobs. There are two sides to this: Learning about AI and other tech, and learning with those technologies. Online learning opportunities abound, as anyone knows who has turned to YouTube for instructions in cooking, car repairs, coding or a hundred other pursuits. The big names are also pitching in to help learners understand the exploding field of artificial intelligence. For example, on its SkillsBuild learning portal, IBM offers a free credential in AI basics in a 10-hour online training program called AI Fundamentals. Amazon, meanwhile, created the Generative AI Foundations series, which tech writer David Gewirtz calls an "all-you-can-eat buffet of really cool and really interesting material to learn and watch." While nobody knows how many jobs will be lost -- or created -- due to artificial intelligence, it's already clear that AI, besides being a great subject for learning, will make it cheaper and more convenient to upskill and prepare for the future. AI will also be ubiquitous. Most major computer applications now have an "AI assistant." Understanding how to use those and interpret what they share will help leverage human ability in our interaction with machines. MIT Economics Professor David Autor is optimistic, writing that we should not be worried about having enough jobs. "We are not running out of jobs. And, in fact, you know, all the Western world right now is in full or over-employment. And even during the whole computer revolution zone, we didn't run out of jobs. It's not the quantity that matters." Autor, co-director of the Labor Studies Program at the National Bureau of Economic Research, said in an interview with us that AI can help leverage expertise so workers can do higher-value work. "I'm not Pollyanna about it. There will be real dislocation and displacement," he said. "But there's more upside and potential than with previous technology. AI will reshape the value and nature of human expertise. Expertise commands a market premium if it is both necessary for accomplishing an objective and relatively scarce." Tutoring is one promising area for AI, as is interactive learning through simulations of work environments. For example, pilots have long benefitted from training on simulators, and now AI is augmenting simulators for other skills in virtual reality platforms. One notable example: an AI-powered laparoscopic simulator to train surgeons to work inside the body using tools inserted through small incisions. In their training, the students get immediate feedback from the artificial intelligence system, which itself has been trained on the movements of experts. Where does higher education fit into this? Many of those seeking to grow their skills online could be forgiven if they feel ill-served -- left on their own to navigate the options and competing benefits of online learning. Yes, there's an abundance of free online training -- just as there's always been an abundance of knowledge in libraries. But learning requires more than mere access to information -- and higher ed can fill that gap. It has a natural role in presenting, explaining, and documenting learning -- not just curating online resources. It adds value through quality instruction, broad-based learning, and partnerships with employers. Ideally, online learning tools will increasingly be embedded in longer learning paths that, should the learner wish, lead to college degrees. Today's colleges and universities face immense challenges, to be sure -- but AI also presents them with a dual opportunity: They can use AI systems to educate people for good jobs more quickly and at less expense; and they can build instruction about AI itself across majors and disciplines. Frankly, given AI's inexorable progress, this is a path they must take. The rocketing pace of change demands that schools experiment, adapt, and collaborate as never before. We may also need to adjust our advice for students of all ages and levels. The new message? Skill up -- and keep it up. In today's world, frequent reskilling is the only way to stay ahead of the game.