I just want to say student lending is one of the most predatory forms of lending we have in this county and you should avoid them. It is better go to a community college or take a gap year to work and build savings. Also College is not the only path to success and before spending a lot of money think about what success looks like to you.

Your parent has no idea what they're talking about. This is what happens when AI companies are given more money than they know what to do with; their marketing gets more and more unhinged, and eventually leaks out to the laymen.

I guess what might help you convince them is some perspective. It's true that LLMs can generate code, but what a laymen doesn't see is that the code they generate is in a language built by humans, using frameworks and tools built by humans, running on platforms built by humans, and distributed through infrastructure built by humans. Additionally, LLMs themselves are built by humans.

Could all of that be AI generated too? No. Anthropic already tried to build a browser and a compiler with Claude recently, and both projects failed spectacularly. The transformer model powering current LLMs has hit a wall; advancements have slowed down significantly in recent years, and the only thing that will get things going is another breakthrough. You're better off gambling your tuition at a casino than betting we'll have a breakthrough within 7 years (or worse, predicting the impact it will have on job markets)

And of course, the idea that an administrative role is safe is silly. There are already experiments to have LLMs run physical businesses on their own. If I had to make a prediction, I'd say business roles are much easier for an LLM to completely replace than engineering.

And finally, the bubble. LLMs today are affordable because of a frenzied market of degenerate gamblers; when the bubble pops (which will happen within 7 years), these AI companies will be forced to restructure or die. Anthropic charges $200/mo for their top models, and that has rate limits that people hit regularly. If Anthropic can't afford unmetered access at $200/mo while they're swimming in cash, then there's no way in hell those prices don't explode post-bubble. I'm not saying AI companies will die, but you and I aren't going to be able to use them.

Like @Newsteinleo@infosec.pub said, don't let them decide this for you. If they won't help pay your tuition, then get your own student loans, and go to a public university to save money.

A) do what you enjoy the most, that will lead to you making the most money. You can be a lawyer who hates it and you'll make less than money than a barber who loves being a barber. The latter will be happy motivated creative eventually stsrt their own barber shop etc. The miserable lawyer will take a salary job find the easiest job possible, be making a mediocre salary forever. Yes, a lawyer has a much higher floor, the cheapest lawyer is still making like $60K a year, versus the cheapest barber making minimum wage, but again if you really like what you're doing you'll be motivated and happy and move up in the profession.

B) it's normal to be scared because a lot will change in software industry because of AI -- still, a hundred years after the invention of the car we still have tons of car mechanics, and we still have lots of people working in auto manufacturing. Think about how much technology robotics and even AI too has changed the automobile industry. Yes, a professional mechanic in 2026 has to be proficient on computers in a way that didn't exist two decades ago because of all the computerized diagnostics, but we still need mechanics. And a lot of car work is basic stuff people used to do for themselves, changing the oil changing bulbs -- in other words the technology made the consumers rely more on professionals for help, even if it's doing stuff that 50 years ago mechanics didn't bother with because back then everyone just changed their own oil.

So yeah, do what you love, and computer science is a perfectly reasonable economic choice, even if right now software hiring is very slow. (That's more of a function of the financial health of major software companies than anything to do with the underlying value software devs bring to the market.)

100k students loans for Americans kills the passion.

Tbh. I wouldn't go into CS rn if you let me re do it.

I really wouldn't. It's ASS. The industry is facing problems much beyond just LLMs. There's a culture problem neigh unsolvable. If you want to be pissed of 24/7 then be my guest.

If I had the option I would probably go into some branch of biology or chemistry.

As someone who let their parents influence their degree choices, DON'T LET THEM DECIDE FOR YOU!!! (please read that not as yell but the unhinged screaming of a man with 20 years of regret).

The only person in your life that will make a decision in your best interest is you. Other people will always be motivated by their own wants, needs, and views. Your parents views on AI and CS are likley not well informed.

It is hard to imagine CS becoming completely obselete. First of all, AI, even under the assumption that it will take hold everywhere in future, still is in its infancy. It might require a complete paradigm shift to become AGI.

A non-desirable situation is that many jobs in industry will transform into AI code supervision (it might be that this business vision completely fails and slowly disappears too since lowering your dev numbers will create bottle necks which AI can not solve unless it is AGI). If this business model sticks however, you should know checking code all the time without writing any could be quite a soul destroying process. This could turn into a situation where you only do your job to earn money and really code on the side for your personal projects (which was the case for many software devs before the AI but likely more so in this context).

If AI does not turn into AGI, I suspect it will still remain as a tool. Companies who fired junior devs in favour of AI hoping they can one day completely go dev free will likely suffer from experience gaps and try to refill their ranks. I suppose like with everything software jobs will suffer from enshitification too with CEOs favouring quantitative output metrics over qualitative ones. Overall I am not sure if it is a bleak future for just CS or for everything so my vote would be do what is your passion but be ready to be flexible with what you do with it.

If AI turns into AGI and tech oligarchs own it, even with ethical problems aside, it will be more than just CS that suffers from it.

You definitely should do some degree, but it doesn't have to be a compsci one - is my personal take.

I did myself personally do a compsci degree, but to get into software it turned out to be quite unnecessary - if you are already building things and contributing to projects then just like being an artist the strength of your experience and your portfolio matter far more than your on-paper qualifications.

There's also the consideration that in computing especially, the industry moves so fast that a lot of what you learn at uni may already be old by the time you learn it, making actual experience and portfolio even more valuable.

In the company I work for, there are brilliant software engineers who have degrees in music and language, and even a former medical doctor!

Point is, if you want to get into software a compsci degree isn't the main factor. You should do some degree, but study whatever you believe will bring you the most joy and personal fulfilment - and if the answer to that is actually compsci then great.

What is their "reasonable" alternative that won't be impacted by AI?

I had courses in data structures, networking, and operating systems, and programming was something we learned on our own to explore those subjects. Think of sorting and searching algorithms, compression techniques, discrete algebra, and OS scheduling strategies.

Yeah but, the way you actually learn that stuff beyond a memorize-for-exam level is by writing programs that implement it. Aren't programming assignments the thing you spend the most time on, the part that is actually difficult, and what most of your grade is based on? It definitely was for me, aside from the more pure math classes, and honestly I see it as by far the more important part, because what is the point of such an education other than gaining abilities to produce and understand software on a deeper level? This was in the US in the 2000's.

I met students who had very poor programming abilities, but were successful at understanding the how and why.

I met students who had poor programming abilities who ended up switching majors (or just cheating their way through) because that meant they couldn't pass the classes.

To learn programming as a skill, I would instead go to a community college.

Strange advice if you didn't go to one, but I can't speak on this either. Not learning the more foundational stuff seems like a possible drawback, and I'd count that as part of programming skill, even if many jobs won't make use of it directly.

Wow, that sounds completely different from my experience of CS (at a Canadian university). I had courses in data structures, networking, and operating systems, and programming was something we learned on our own to explore those subjects. Think of sorting and searching algorithms, compression techniques, discrete algebra, and OS scheduling strategies.

I met students who had very poor programming abilities, but were successful at understanding the how and why.

To learn programming as a skill, I would instead go to a community college.

You could save yourself the money and find/complete the relevant coursework instead, if you have the motivation for it. Writing programs and getting them to work is the main thing you do in undergrad CS.

My three decades of software engineering experience tells me that getting a degree in CS is still quite worth it and anyone who says otherwise is talking out of their ass.

AI will change things, but not the way the doomsayers think and certainly not the way the bandwagoning idiot CEOs think. It will become a tool, yet another one, in our arsenal. If it replaces humans, then good riddance to the moron CEOs and the companies who decide that.

This is a bit of apples and oranges, but I remember when people lost their shit over npm. And those of us who have been in the field for quite some time are like “wtf is wrong with you people? It’s just a package manager — a concept that has existed for at least two decades” by then.

People jump on the next big thing because they have the attention span of a squirrel and the anxiety and ignorance of one as well.

In seven years, the world will long for people who can still program to fix the stuff "AI" cooked up.

it's corporate fud to pay devs less

expect pay to be hurt because that’s the point

suppressing living wages is always the point

No, you're putting words in my mouth. There is real hope, and they probably won't kill themselves. But there is a very real chance of failure, pumping them up with false hope is doing them a disservice.

A CS degree in this job market is about as valuable as a degree in philosophy or women's studies. I wish someone could have told me that years ago when I decided on CS.

If you can afford to get one of those degrees, that's great, but most of us have to work to support ourselves. I thought I was going to be an engineer and help support my aging parents, instead I have to listen to them cry as I beg them for rent money.

One of my good friends graduated with me in the CS/SE program, he also couldn't find a job. He killed himself a couple years ago. I often wonder, if someone had warned him about CS, would he still be alive?

Stability doesn’t exist. You can’t plan for shit. As long as there are obscenely rich people you don’t have a future worth planning for anyway.

Just do whatever you want.

I have a story for you. I wanted to do art, I tried to do art, my parents made me do computer science. It was easier to get a job, it paid better, it was more stable. And yeah, those are all things that were true at the time. I got into computing.

Now, a decade and a bit later, I was made redundant, and the bottom fell out of the tech industry. The art industry isn't fairing much better. Which inevitable industry crash did I avoid?

Just do what your passion lies in. It doesn't matter too much exactly what, but if it gets you over the line regarding getting a degree, it's a hell of a start.

Did you really just tell this person dedicated to CS and looking for advice that there's no hope and they'll probably kill themselves? Wtf

How the hell would AI be able to take over... without people with CS skills to... make the... AI?

What happens to those people once the AI is finished?

AI isnt going to take over our jobs, AI is a tool we use to do our jobs better/faster

Right, so one person can handle the workload of what 3 people (for example) used to do. Therefore AI just took those other two people's jobs.

Honestly if you're truly passionate about it, just do it.

I graduated university in 2007 with a B Sc. in Software Engineering because I was passionate about it and still going strong. I've been through 3 layoffs over my career and just find something else in the industry.

I'll admit the AI stuff bothered me at first but I've seen how it's a force multiplier in the hands of certain people and I'm slowly warming up to it. I'm learning flux, k8s, and helm charts and whatnot for my home server and it's been a life saver. That's a bit more on the devops side of things but I think it will be a good skill to have.

I know people who went into the industry for money specifically when they were deciding what to take a lt school and those are the people who are more worried about layoffs and whatnot. I also know people who started CS or Engineering and moved out of it because they realized it wasn't for them. One particular person jumped over to history and sure they aren't earning as much but they sure seem happy with where their life has ended up.

I think if you're passionate and willing to learn there will always be some niche you'll be able to find.

Are there problems in the industry? Yes. Do I think we should have unionized when we had the chance? Absolutely. Does it seem like that are laying people off to do salary resets? 100%. Is AI growing at a crazy rate? Yes. Will all our jobs be taken over by AI in 7 years? Nope!

The industry might shrink. Some people will change career paths. Some people will find their niche. There will still be rockstars (both passion and ability) and there will still be people who are just doing it for the money.

P. S. Maybe you can pivot to Engineering? Your first year or two is usually a solid base set of broad engineering skills, like matrices, calculus, chemistry, statics/dynamics, fluids/solids/gasses, discrete math, etc. Then in your second year you start specializing (my U people could do Computer Eng if they wanted to do more hardware design and embedded stuff, or Software Eng if they preferred coding). Your parents might see more value in that than a CS degree (which is usually more theoretical stuff though lots of colleges and universities also teach systems design and coding). Based on your listed skills and interests I think you might get more value from it too.

The only thing technological advancements do is create the requirement for more labor. OPs parents can wish in one hand and shit in the other and see which fills up first.

@aunchers@lemmy.world you are an adult. Study what you want. Once the bubble pops companies are going to be clamoring over eachother to hire engineers to fix what AI broke/breaks....

https://duckduckgo.com/?ia=web&origin=funnel_home_website&t=h_&q=AI+agent+deletes

The common thread in all these doomer conspiracies is human adaptability. Slippery slope arguments assume that once a technology introduces a specific risk, society lacks the agency to create counter-measures, new norms, or alternative uses for that technology. Instead, history shows that when a "slope" appears, regulation steps in, technology evolves to solve the problem, or the culture shifts to reinterpret the tool.

In almost every case, the feared "bottom" of the slope was never reached because humans constantly built ramps or bridges along the way.

Unless you live somewhere college is cheap or free this is kinda just how it is. Or maybe it doesn't matter if more people stumble into generational wealth I guess.

The CS job market is already a nightmare, and the effects of AI are just beginning.

I graduated with a Software Engineering degree from a prestigious public university in 2020. I have yet to find an entry level job using these skills.

Networking and applying for jobs consumed my life for 3 years. At the end of those 3 years I was seriously considering suicide.

I was once like you, passionate about CS. Sorry to say it, but a likely outcome at the end of your path is failure, depression, and suicide. Multiple classmates of mine have killed themselves already.