AI could change the way people learn and prepare for careers so dramatically that traditional college education may no longer be necessary, according to former Google executive Mo Gawdat. Gawdat, who spent 12 years at Google and was previously Chief Business Officer at Google X, made the prediction while speaking on the Silicon Valley Girl podcast. Asked whether parents should continue saving for college for their young children, he gave a blunt response.
“Absolutely not. There’s not going to be college at all in 10 years already. 100%,” Gawdat said.
His prediction is part of an argument that AI will fundamentally change education, jobs and the way people acquire skills. He believes AI is already becoming an extension of human memory and computing power, allowing people to access information, conduct research and process large amounts of data far faster than before.
Gawdat compared the impact of AI with the arrival of calculators. Students once had to perform complex calculations themselves, but calculators eventually became tools that allowed them to focus on other problems. He believes AI can play a similar role on a much larger scale. However, he warned that blindly depending on AI could weaken people’s ability to think.
“AI is going to make you dumb if you outsource your problem solving to AI,” he said.
Instead, he believes people should let AI handle tasks that machines are naturally better at, such as processing huge amounts of information and searching quickly, while humans continue to focus on reasoning, judgment and decision-making.
This could also change how universities evaluate students. Gawdat has argued that traditional exams should eventually be replaced with a system that allows students to use AI. Rather than measuring what someone can accomplish without assistance, education could focus on what a person can achieve by combining their own abilities with AI.
4 skills could matter more than degrees
Gawdat believes children should be prepared for an environment where AI is deeply embedded in education and work. His first recommendation is to become highly skilled at using AI and treat it as a tool rather than an enemy.
The second is adaptability. AI is evolving quickly, meaning people will need to keep learning and adjusting as new systems emerge.
The third is ethics. Gawdat believes people must push for AI to be developed and used responsibly, particularly as governments and businesses adopt increasingly powerful systems.
The fourth is scepticism. People should not automatically trust information simply because it comes from an AI chatbot. Gawdat said he often compares answers from different AI models to identify missing information and different perspectives.
His prediction also shows his belief that AI could eventually disrupt the labour market on a massive scale. If companies gain an advantage by using AI, competitors may be forced to adopt the technology as well. Whether colleges will actually disappear within 10 years remains uncertain. Universities provide more than education, including research, professional credentials and networks.
