Professor Christopher Pissarides warns against rushing into STEM after the rise of AI

A Nobel Prize-winning economist has warned young people against focusing on Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) subjects, arguing that “empathy” and creativity skills could thrive in a world dominated by artificial intelligence (AI ) .

Workers in certain IT jobs risk sowing the “seeds of their own destruction” by developing AI that could potentially take over similar jobs they do in the future, said Christopher Pissarides, professor of economics at the London School of Economics.

While Professor Pissarides is optimistic about the overall impact of AI on the job market, he does raise concerns for those studying STEM subjects in the hope of embracing technological advances. He says that while demand for STEM skills is growing rapidly, jobs that require more traditional face-to-face skills, such as those in hospitality and healthcare, will still dominate the job market.

“The skills needed now to collect, collate, develop and use data to develop the next stage of AI or beyond, enabling AI to take over these very jobs, will make the skills needed today obsolete in the future,” he said in an interview.

“While growth is certainly occurring, there will not be enough of it to fill the employment needs of all graduates. The demand for these new IT skills contains the seeds of their own destruction.”

The popularity of STEM subjects has exploded in recent years as students hope to become more employable.

The rapid development of AI could transform the skills needed for workers as it makes some tasks and roles obsolete.

However, in the long term, management, creativity and empathy skills, including communication, customer service and healthcare, are likely to remain in high demand as they are less likely to be replaced by technology, especially AI.

“When you say the majority of jobs are going to be things that involve personal care, communication, good social relationships, people might say, ‘Oh my God, is that what we have to expect in the future?’” says Professor Pissarides.

“We should not look down on these jobs. They are better than the jobs that new graduates used to do.”

Cyprus-born Professor Pissarides, along with Peter Diamond and Dale Mortensen, received the 2010 Nobel Prize in Economics for their work on the economics of labour markets, particularly the conflicts that lead to mismatches between job vacancies and unemployment patterns, including examining how wages and hiring are affected by regulations and policies.