The AI Job Boom Is Just Getting Started

The AI job apocalypse is turning out to be a bust. The Wall Street Journal reports that major companies are hiring again, defying predictions that artificial intelligence would wipe out large numbers of jobs — and specifically entry level jobs. But the really interesting twist in this story is that AI is actually creating jobs. Entry level workers aren’t victims; they are valuable assets.

Instead of preparing for disaster, let’s focus on a more productive — and realistic endeavor — preparing students and young adults for the opportunities that AI is creating for them in work and in life.

As the founder of both an online school and education technology company, a former school board member, and a mother of three, I believe that the biggest threat facing today's students is not that AI will take all the jobs. It is that our education system will fail to prepare them for the jobs that are being created.

The labor market is sending a clear signal. Jobs requiring AI skills are growing nearly eight times faster than the overall job market, and employers are paying a substantial wage premium for workers who know how to use these tools effectively. Businesses are not looking to replace people. They are looking for people who can work alongside technology to solve problems, make decisions, and create value. That means the first rung on the career ladder has changed.

Employers increasingly want entry-level hires who can exercise judgment, communicate effectively, analyze information, and leverage AI tools productively from day one. This is not bad news for students; it is a tremendous opportunity — if we respond appropriately. Unfortunately, our schools are lagging behind — and even resisting — reality.

Schools should be teaching students how to evaluate AI-generated information, identify inaccuracies, protect privacy, think critically, and use these tools to enhance learning rather than replace it. AI literacy should become as fundamental as digital literacy became a generation ago.

And, if their child’s school chooses resistance or complacency, parents should be able to take their kids elsewhere. I’ve spent years advocating for school choice and educational innovation because I believe students should never be stuck in sub-par schools just because of their zip codes. Families should have the power to choose schools and programs that are preparing students for an AI-enabled economy.

Higher education must adapt as well, and a few schools are showing real leadership. Miami Dade College went to Intel and Microsoft, asked what skills they needed, and built the degree around the answer. Ohio State University decided every graduate will be “bilingual” — beginning with the class of 2029, every Ohio State student will graduate fluent in their field of study and in the application of AI to that field. All undergraduates build generative AI skills through a required General Education Launch Seminar. This is the kind of entrepreneurial spirit we need in education.

Four-year degree institutions aren’t the only educational paths for young adults looking to gain the skills to launch into careers. Meta just launched America's Workforce Academy — a tuition-free, paid training program that delivers NCCER credentials, a portable America's Workforce Certificate, and a guaranteed job for every graduate. The private-sector commitment is piloting in Louisiana, Ohio, Indiana, and Texas.

AI is deeply physical. It requires data centers, electrical infrastructure, construction, cooling systems, networking equipment, and highly skilled technicians to build and maintain it all. This is why career and technical education, apprenticeships, and workforce pathways deserve renewed attention. Florida has demonstrated what is possible by expanding career education opportunities and apprenticeship programs that connect students directly to high-demand industries. Other states are advancing AI education initiatives and integrating technology skills into graduation requirements.

The AI economy is creating enormous demand for electricians, welders, HVAC technicians, construction professionals, network specialists, and data center operators. Hundreds of thousands of these positions are projected to go unfilled because employers cannot find enough qualified workers. These are not low-paying jobs. Many offer salaries that rival or exceed those of traditional white-collar careers.

Make no mistake, the future holds enormous opportunities for the next generation. The reindustrialization of America belongs to the students who learn how to harness these AI tools and skills. The jobs are coming. It is our responsibility to ensure that students are ready by creating the education pathways.

Erika Donalds is Founder of the Education Freedom Foundation and Chairman of OptimaEd

Author Donalds wrote "Schools should be teaching students how to evaluate AI-generated information, identify inaccuracies, protect privacy, think critically, and use these tools to enhance learning rather than replace it."

But JD Rucker, in Fifteen Ways AI Threatens America, and the Vast Majority Have Only Heard of Five argues "6. The Atrophy of the American Mind: Here is the threat that requires no malice, no bad actor, no dystopian plot. It only requires convenience. When a machine writes your emails, summarizes your reading, and reasons through your problems, the mental muscles that once did those jobs begin to weaken, the same way legs weaken when a man stops walking. A generation that outsources its thinking will eventually be unable to audit the machine doing the thinking for it. That is not a workforce problem. That is a self-governance problem, because a republic run by people who cannot reason independently is a republic in name only.

(also posted on FR Post yesterday: Fifteen Ways AI Threatens America, and the Vast Majority Have Only Heard of Five)

The loss of critical thinking skills is a serious risk. Right now we have a large fraction of young adults arriving at college barely able to perform math, reading, writing, and critical thinking at junior high school levels. It's going to get a LOT worse.

And how about the USPS? They could lose 60% of their workforce. Easily.

The USPS is put in the impossible position of being tasked to break even like a business, but being unable to make business decisions that can help it become solvent (e.g. rural post offices, Saturday delivery).

I would accept it as a Constitutionally qualified government expense, but draw it down by dumping the subsidy on junk mail and package shipments from Red China and sweetheart deals with Amazon. We need it to function because it delivers to every U.S. address, including remote parts of Alaska, territories, and military. Certified Mail is needed to ensure service (FedEx/UPS can go out of business or on strike, USPS cannot) of legal documents. It's also needed for representative communications. Deemphasize packages, and return to the original backbone: First Class letters at the same price to any U.S. address. Charge what you have to for package delivery to break even, and let FedEx/UPS/DHL get the rest.

I looked over JD Rucker’s notes for, “in Fifteen Ways AI Threatens America, and the Vast Majority Have Only Heard of Five”. It was a very good piece. And I agree with most of the observations.

But most people who uses AI on a regular basis for technical purposes soon begin to realize... various types of AI solutions are so unreliable that they are barely usable. Somehow this seems to be overlooked repeatedly. The primary reason AI is not replacing skilled technical workers is because it is not capable of doing that type of work at this point in time. Its use is mostly restricted as an aide to programmers not as a replacement.

Despite massive investments... AI does not deliver for the purposes most people believe that it was designed for. What it is good for is collecting information on hundreds of millions of people and using it for hawking expensive crap to them that they don’t need. The other primary use is for government agencies to collect massive amounts of information on citizens, largely to be used in inappropriate ways.

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