[Moneyverse] Don't Major in Philosophy for AI Jobs

"AI philosophers are unlikely to run short of work anytime soon. According to statistics released by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York earlier this year, graduates who majored in philosophy in the United States were more likely to be employed than their peers who majored in computer science. In 2024, the unemployment rate was 7.0% for computer science majors and 5.1% for philosophy majors. Many of them are being snapped up by AI companies. Luciano Floridi, a professor of philosophy at Yale University, says students are receiving job offers before they even graduate."

This is the gist of an article published on June 24 by the British weekly The Economist, which has been widely covered by domestic media. Its headline was "Why the big AI labs are hiring philosophers in droves." The article is full of holes. It backs up its claim that philosophy majors are currently finding jobs in AI with a single comment from a Yale professor, unsupported by any figures. The rate at which philosophy majors in the United States find jobs in AI is likely considerably lower than the rate for philosophy majors at Yale. The rate for philosophy majors in Korea is likely lower still.

The Economist article also omits important information, highlighting only one aspect of the statistics. It did not report the underemployment rate, which the New York Fed publishes alongside the unemployment rate. The underemployment rate refers to the share of people working in jobs that do not require a college degree. Philosophy graduates who are underemployed are likely to be doing work unrelated to their major. In the same statistics, the underemployment rate for philosophy graduates was 47.1%, far higher than the 19.1% rate for computer science graduates. Most importantly, the article did not investigate how many philosophy graduates had found jobs at AI companies. In short, the evidence supporting the claim that philosophy majors are actively entering the AI field is flimsy, both for two years ago and for the present.

There are several examples of philosophy majors working at AI companies. For instance, Amanda Askell, who holds a PhD in philosophy from New York University, leads research at Anthropic on establishing behavioral principles for Claude, its AI model. But a handful of prominent examples do not establish that most people with a bachelor's degree in philosophy can get jobs at AI companies if they want to. Nor has it been established that AI companies prefer philosophy majors to graduates of other fields.

The minimum qualifications for a philosophy and human values researcher currently sought by Google DeepMind, the developer of Gemini, are instructive. According to the Google DeepMind job posting, candidates must have: first, a PhD in philosophy, political science, economics, law, psychology, computer science, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience; second, at least three years of research experience in relevant fields, such as AI value alignment; and third, work experience in AI and machine learning.

This shows that someone with a PhD in philosophy and work experience in AI could apply for a researcher position at Google DeepMind, but someone with only a bachelor's degree in philosophy could not submit an application.

The college entrance exam is now 28 days away. I hope all students taking the exam can perform to the best of their abilities, and that they get into the majors they hope to pursue. I also wish philosophy applicants well. However, if you are considering majoring in philosophy with the goal of working at an AI company, I would advise you to reconsider that choice.

Paik Woojin, Economics Columnist

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.