A few weeks back I listened to a professor stewing about the challenges of his job. He was a teacher in the engineering department. He’s a smart and respectable dude. A guy you’d be bored out of your mind to deal with – when he’s sober.
But this teacher was in his free time and slightly inebriated – so great company.
Anyway… the conversation was about one of his students. This student went to a job fair and asked questions. Questions that made the potential employers in the room instantly bite their tongue and… you know…
there is no such thing as a stupid question…
But stupid certainly exists as something.
So… this topic was brought up to the respectable teacher. The teacher cringed and instantly became very uncomfortable. Fortunately… he wasn’t sober enough to leave things as is.
He said something like, “Yea… I’m aware… But you wouldn’t believe the essays she hands in. Every one of them is brilliant… Remote tests – she’s scores perfect. But in class tests… every conversation in person – miserable…”
So… the obvious topic came up…
You… you know they’re cheating, right?
The teacher nodded and then looked down and shook his head. He said something like, “I’ve talked to the administration about them repeatedly.”
Then for reasons beyond the scope of this article – this person was untouchable. The administration refused to allow any further inquiry into the matter of cheating.
The cheater talked about how the essays he received were tested to be AI generated with almost complete certainty. And how he’d specific asked questions in person about the very topics in those essays – and that told him the student barely even remembered what they wrote.
But he couldn’t do anything about it.
This student was going to graduate with a degree as long as they showed up and superficially completed the work.
Here’s the thing:
Every employer in the room knew this student wasn’t very smart.
You can’t ace a job interview with an essay.
And imagine trying to get a job with your professors being willing to say that about you?
The Academic Statistics of Yesteryear No Longer Apply
When I was a kid, they used to present data to me about how the college graduate made an extra million dollars over their lifetime.
Of course, the data they presented to me was about students that graduated 30-40 years before me. It takes a while for that data to come in.
But college has changed.
30 or 40 years before me – virtually no one graduated college. Just getting accepted was an accomplishment. By the time I went to college, it would have been an accomplishment not to be accepted to some state school – you’d have to be a complete screw up. How could you possibly manage to become that unacceptable? It must take talent to suck that bad.
That change in demographics changes the data.
Employers are no longer impressed by a college degree. Not having a college degree – for unregulated jobs might even be an advantage. It could help a student stand out.
So… with less competent students getting more college degrees – that “extra million dollars” data is becoming less and less relevant. In some way, a master’s degree of today is the equivalent of a bachelors.
But… employers see which way the winds are blowing. The same way you see it happening around you.
The AI Cheating Epidemic
AI has made cheating easier than ever.
Sure… there are some tests that can do a quick word check with some strong degree of accuracy whether or not AI wrote it. But it’s a tough road to take a student down with that evidence (especially if the student always uses AI. Their voice becomes awfully similar to AI.)
Teachers end up testing papers and getting slightly less than certain results that it was AI generated – then the teacher…
- Assumes it was AI generated (and judges you accordingly)
- Does nothing because they can’t do anything without better proof.
Your teacher will no longer be an ally but an enemy.
And you will… not only fail to impress but also never know exactly why you’re treated the way you are…
They can’t say you cheated with that evidence. So… they’ll just know it. No chance to defend yourself.
The best way to avoid this is to be strikingly original (and sometimes wrong.)
To some extent, not even the teachers will be trusting the degrees they’re signing off on…
What Happens When People No Longer Trust the Degree
I say this as an employer. (Not with this website. But a separate design consultancy.)
I’ve been in the business over a decade, and I’ve seen the changes in the recent graduates, and I’m not the only one noticing this.
I believe it’s safe to assume 95% of students easily fit somewhere on the “academic cheating” spectrum. Sure… most college grades aren’t carrying cheat sheets or peeking on their neighbors’ papers.
But I haven’t met a recent graduate that’s uncomfortable splitting their homework assignment into pieces to be shared between friends.
I hate to break this to you – but if you didn’t do all the work (minus very specific questions about one step here and there) … Even moderately old people like me consider it cheating.
It certainly doesn’t mean you’re unemployable… Time and risk management have their place. But… you ought to be careful to mention it because you’re just letting the employer know you’re a risk.
As an employer, what do I do?
I don’t trust the credential.
I ask hard questions. Questions that are supposed to trip you up. Things that make everyone in the room uncomfortable. Questions I would have struggled with after graduation.
You don’t have to answer them perfectly. But in 2 minutes of talking about the topic I’ll get a pretty good idea of your competency.
And you’ll probably get employed with just a degree and limited competency at some crappy bureaucracy that is really just using you as a credentialed chair warmer. HR departments usually know less than you do. So… you can fool em’. If that’s what you’re looking for… get the degree and enjoy the chair warming.
What Impact Makers Are Looking For
Are you looking to make an impact in the world?
Do you want to be in the position to do something meaningful, impressive, or even fun?
Do you want to be someone that produces value?
Good jobs are non-bureaucratic. Set your own schedule. Remote working. Higher than average pay. Fun work environments. Bureaucracies can’t do that. They follow strict rules and structures. Break that structure and you just can’t work there. It doesn’t matter how good you are.
Non-bureaucratic jobs require more than a college degree.
There is an interview process – if you’re able to get that interview, it matters significantly more than your degree. The degree is nothing except a chance at the interview.
We’re in a changing world right now – you’re on the front lines more than I am. I have a decade of people willing to throw money at me because I proved I’m a really competent guy at what I do – and they trust me. That’s where security comes from.
How do you get in that position yourself?
You don’t be an automaton. You don’t write like AI does. You live in a way that makes surprise tests your finest moments – not your embarrassing downfall.
AI is just a temptation that might as well be designed to separate the wheat from the chaff.
Is what you’re writing really replaceable by AI?
Then, sorry to inform you this, but your writing sucks. (And not in the failed glory sense. Just boring and irrelevant to anyone that matters sense.)