Colman Noctor: Helping young people find meaningful work in the age of AI

Young people’s fears that their degrees will become obsolete due to artificial intelligence should not be dismissed by their parents. Picture: iStock

My daughter wants to do something artistic when she grows up. Thankfully, she is talented — a gift she undoubtedly inherited from her mother — because her dyslexia makes traditional academic work challenging. In recent years, she has developed an interest in Marvel comics and has talked about wanting to be an animator.

Last week, when we were chatting, she said, “I cannot be an animator anymore, Dad, I will have to think of something else.”

She had heard that animators are no longer needed, because, “Artificial intelligence has taken over animation” and now believes she needs to “go back to the drawing board”.

For context, my daughter is 12 years old, “almost 13”, as she often reminds me, so she’s not yet at the stage of filling out her CAO form.

I have observed a lack of direction among young people as they near the end of secondary school. While I recognise that most 18-year- olds are not ‘sure’ about what they want to do with the rest of their lives, there has been a noticeable decline in clarity. This change may partly be due to the overwhelming choice of college courses and that ‘a job for life’ is no longer the norm. But I wonder if the broader uncertainty about AI’s impact on the future of work is also influencing their indecision.

Already, AI is rapidly reshaping industries and workplaces. From interacting with chatbots when communicating with a utility company to using self-service checkouts in shops, AI and automation have undoubtedly replaced jobs.

A 2024 survey by YouGov found that 85% of young people felt unprepared and anxious about entering a labour market that is increasingly influenced by AI technologies.

Another survey of 1,000 young people, conducted by OnSide in Britain in 2024, revealed that more than 60% of those aged eight to 25 possess little to no knowledge of AI, and nearly 70% are not learning about it in school. Perhaps this lack of exposure contributes to feelings of confusion and uncertainty regarding AI’s role in their future careers.

A 2021 study by the University College London Institute of Education found that 53% of 16–25-year-olds believe their career prospects are worsening, with 44% reporting a decline in their acquisition of work-related skills, particularly due to disruptions caused by covid.

Challenging times

The integration of AI in to various sectors has led to a re-evaluation of entry-level positions. According to an article in Business Insider from earlier this year, hiring for entry-level positions in the tech sector has declined by 50% from pre-pandemic levels. Companies are prioritising the recruitment of experienced professionals who can perform high-level skills, as AI can now facilitate lower-level tasks, often at the expense of nurturing early career talent.

The rapid advancement of AI platforms has caused some young people to question the value of traditional educational pathways, which may be contributing to the current issues with school attendance and engagement. A survey in May 2025 by Indeed and the Harris Poll found that nearly half (49%) of Gen Z job seekers believe their college degrees have become obsolete due to the rise of AI, particularly generative tools like ChatGPT.

The uncertainty surrounding AI’s impact on employment is taking a psychological toll on young workers. A 2024 study highlighted by eSoftSkills found that 39% of workers fear AI might make their jobs obsolete, with those concerned about AI being 51% more likely to report that it negatively affects their mental health. Symptoms include increased stress and feelings of insignificance.

We often accuse young people of being needlessly anxious, but their anxiety about the job opportunities that will be lost over the next decade may be justified.

While appearing on The Tonight Show last February, to promote his memoir, Source Code, Bill Gates predicted that AI will replace doctors, teachers, mental health professionals, and more within the next 10 years.

When asked the question, “Will we still need humans?” the Microsoft co-founder worringly replied, “Not for most things.”

In a CNBC interview last month, Elon Musk was asked what careers he would suggest for his children to pursue to have opportunities beyond AI. After a notable pause, he said, “I guess I would say to follow their heart in terms of what they find interesting to do or fulfilling to do, and try to be as useful as possible to the rest of society... If I think about it too hard, it can be dispiriting and demotivating.”

Despite these challenges, there are avenues to empower young people in the AI-driven job market. While the demand for horses to plough fields is significantly less now than it was 50 years ago, some roles exist now that didn’t back then.

For example, I recall trying to explain the role of a personal trainer to my 90-year-old father, who couldn’t fathom that people paid someone else to instruct them to lift heavy things and tell them when they had lifted enough. As the world changes, so do the opportunities.

Embracing change

As parents, educators, and mentors, it is essential to offer support and guidance to young people navigating this transformative period. Perhaps the first step is to promote AI literacy through accessible resources, workshops, and courses, which could demystify some of the uncertainty.

In addition to embracing change, it is essential to acknowledge the fears that young people face. Even if we are not experts in automation and AI, we need to be curious about hearing their concerns, validating their feelings, and providing reassurance.

It is also crucial to highlight the importance of other skills, such as critical thinking, creativity, and emotional intelligence, skills that are less susceptible to automation. By fostering a mindset of continuous learning about the rapidly changing job market, you provide a sense of hope and influence, rather than dread or powerlessness.

The ‘godfather of AI’, Geoffrey Hinton, who resigned from his position at Google due to concerns about the direction of the technology, recently stated in an interview that specific industries are likely to be wiped out sooner than others.

He remarked that “mundane intellectual labour” is at the highest risk, and that mass job displacement is already upon us.

Hinton predicted that we might also witness a U-turn regarding academic snobbery and a renewed appreciation for trades, such as carpentry and construction.

According to Hinton, “It’s going to be a long time before they (AI robots) are as good as humans at physical manipulation, so a good bet would be to become a plumber.”

Ultimately, we must support initiatives that integrate AI and digital literacy in to school curricula, ensuring that students are equipped with the relevant skills necessary for the future.

While the potential for AI to do good is enormous, I am also aware of concerns, such as those of my daughter. AI may well make our lives ‘easier’, but we need to be mindful that children don’t give up doing things like drawing, writing, or creating, because they don’t deem them valuable to their future lives.

I fear that we might end up raising potential poets who never write, musicians who never strum a guitar, and artists who never paint. As technology becomes more humanised, we need to ensure we don’t encourage our children to become less human in response to it.

I reassured my daughter that there will always be a market for original handmade work, so she needed to keep drawing and have faith that there will be space in our tech-driven world for creative people.

I hope time will prove me right.

• Dr Colman Noctor is a child psychotherapist