Jun 26, 2026 05:34 PM
https://tech.yahoo.com/ai/articles/why-a...28473.html
EXCERPTS: For years, philosophy graduates have been the "butt of jokes about unemployable degrees", said Thibault Spirlet in Business Insider. Now, they can earn six-figure salaries as the "world's most powerful AI companies" try to "shape how machines think and behave". [...] Deliberating whether a system should follow deontological aims ("strict rules" against "lying, coercion and treating people as a means rather than an end"), or consequentialist ones (which weigh "costs against benefits") is also a common dilemma for developers.
[...] A rise in demand for philosophers has also coincided with a decline in admissions for computer science students, said Lance Eliot in Forbes. Arguably, computer science has become a "dead-end endeavour", creating "automation that replaces the humans who made it all possible". AI programming once held the "promise of big bucks and a stellar career". This may just be a minor "course correction", as no doubt degrees that directly relate to AI will remain important, but nonetheless, philosophy is experiencing an "amazing arc of redemption".
But influence goes both ways and is "not limited to Silicon Valley", said Alexandra Tremayne-Pengelly on Observer. Philosophy is impacting tech, but the demands of the AI industry are reshaping the "long-standing" landscape of philosophical thought. Academia is "rapidly adapting" as foundational questions regarding consciousness, morality, minds and computation have taken on a "new urgency". (MORE - details)
EXCERPTS: For years, philosophy graduates have been the "butt of jokes about unemployable degrees", said Thibault Spirlet in Business Insider. Now, they can earn six-figure salaries as the "world's most powerful AI companies" try to "shape how machines think and behave". [...] Deliberating whether a system should follow deontological aims ("strict rules" against "lying, coercion and treating people as a means rather than an end"), or consequentialist ones (which weigh "costs against benefits") is also a common dilemma for developers.
[...] A rise in demand for philosophers has also coincided with a decline in admissions for computer science students, said Lance Eliot in Forbes. Arguably, computer science has become a "dead-end endeavour", creating "automation that replaces the humans who made it all possible". AI programming once held the "promise of big bucks and a stellar career". This may just be a minor "course correction", as no doubt degrees that directly relate to AI will remain important, but nonetheless, philosophy is experiencing an "amazing arc of redemption".
But influence goes both ways and is "not limited to Silicon Valley", said Alexandra Tremayne-Pengelly on Observer. Philosophy is impacting tech, but the demands of the AI industry are reshaping the "long-standing" landscape of philosophical thought. Academia is "rapidly adapting" as foundational questions regarding consciousness, morality, minds and computation have taken on a "new urgency". (MORE - details)