‘Godmother of AI’ says degrees are less important in hiring than how quickly you can ‘superpower yourself’ with new tools

Degrees aren’t becoming irrelevant because people are suddenly smarter. They’re becoming irrelevant because AI is exposing how little most degrees actually measure.

Most hiring processes were built to filter scarcity: access to education, access to information, access to tools. AI just nuked all three.

In 2025, the real divide isn’t educated vs uneducated. It’s adaptable vs obsolete.

If you need a syllabus, a professor, or permission to learn a new tool, you’re already behind. The market now rewards people who can teach themselves faster than institutions can update PDFs.

Harsh truth: AI won’t replace people without degrees. People who know how to use AI will replace everyone who doesn’t — degree or not.

Universities won’t die. But they’ll stop being career gatekeepers and start being what they should’ve been all along: optional accelerators, not mandatory toll booths.

Uncomfortable? Good. That’s usually where reality lives.