UPSC A 'Complete Waste Of Time': Sanjeev Sanyal On Degree-Based Education With Advent Of AI

Economist Sanjeev Sanyal has said that the future of tertiary education may not focus as much on traditional college education and degrees and more so on AI-based skill development.

The member of Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council called AI "vastly superior" at giving lectures and stated that tertiary education needs to be rethought and was being made "irrelevant".

"Till 20th century, people going to university on a routine basis was an elite activity. Technology is making lecture-based universities irrelevant," Sanyal said in a video interview with ANI.

He called the issue with AI outpacing traditional college education "a problem for the skilling system".

"There is a collapse between the idea of skilling and tertiary education. Earlier, skilling was seen as something plumbers did, and tertiary education was seen as this place where all the hi-fi went and did some great philosophical intellectual upgradation," Sanyal said.

Sanyal stated that the National Institute of Information Technology did more for creating the Indian software sector than all the other degree holders combined.

Sanyal further called the pursuit of the Union Public Service Commission for job stability, a complete waste of time, remarking that it must have been a great idea in the 1960s, but times have changed.

"Technology has changed and it is a routine affair. Upgrading the entire professor faculty in that way will be a very difficult thing to do," Sanyal stated, referring to how phones keep getting upgraded every year as an example.

He stated that the education system should make it much more oriented towards apprenticeships and actual skills because the "industry is ahead of academia".

People should get people into jobs early. You should actually think that at 18 people find jobs, and do degrees on the side, the economist added, citing Zoho founder Sridhar Vembu and billionaire Elon Musk.

When asked about how this would impact the social life of college goers Sanyal stated that till the 20th century, people didn't have a social life, and that many people don't go to university but people still have social lives.

He recommended that people attend classes online and take exams while working.

"AI needs to be embraced, will cause a great deal of disruption but those who embrace it fast will use it as a tool to upgrade themselves," Sanyal said.