College students are switching majors away from technical fields toward humanities and arts, citing concerns that AI will automate entry-level jobs in technology and data science.

Josephine Timperman, a 20-year-old at Miami University in Ohio, switched her major from business analytics to marketing a few weeks ago, keeping analytics as a minor. She cited fears that basic skills like statistical analysis and coding can now easily be automated.

About 70% of college students see AI as a threat to their job prospects, according to a 2025 poll by the Institute of Politics at the Harvard Kennedy School. Students pursuing degrees in technology and vocational areas feel particular pressure to develop AI expertise while fearing replacement by it.

University leaders and education experts acknowledge they lack concrete answers about what students need to learn for job success in future decades. Brown University President Christina Paxson stated at a Stanford panel discussion that critical thinking and communication may be more important than technical skills like coding in Java.