No degree is AI-proof. But delaying specialisation may offer students an edge

Generative AI is reshaping what universities teach. According to The Conversation, a new New Zealand survey found eighty-seven percent of organizations have already seen job roles change or disappear due to AI, with a third also slowing entry-level hiring. Rather than turning every student into a computer scientist, the article argues universities should combine depth—expertise in a specific discipline—with breadth: the ability to work across fields and think critically about AI. Researchers call this the T-shaped graduate model. As AI makes generating plausible answers increasingly easy, the value of a degree increasingly lies in judgment—the ability to question assumptions, evaluate evidence, and exercise professional reasoning.

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