David Rubenstein is telling young workers that the AI era will not erase the oldest career advantage on the market: the ability to read, write and speak clearly.
The Carlyle cofounder said in a recent interview with Business Insider that young people should 'learn how to read and enjoy reading, learn how to speak effectively and persuasively, and learn how to write reasonably well.' He added that they should 'find something that you really enjoy and make it your life’s work.' Rubenstein, 77, said, 'Nobody ever won a Nobel Prize hating what they do.'
Rubenstein’s argument is simple. AI can handle more of the routine work, from reading and writing to basic analysis, but human judgment still matters when the job is to tell good writing from bad writing. He said the fundamentals that have made people successful over the last several thousand years are 'probably not going to go away.'
The message is not coming from Rubenstein alone. Daniela Amodei, president and cofounder of Anthropic, said people skills are more important than ever as humans work alongside AI. She said critical thinking, communication and curiosity are a premium, and that studying the humanities may be 'more important than ever.'
Jack Clark, the cofounder of Anthropic, said majoring in English literature and creative writing helped prepare him for the AI industry. He said his background gave him 'intuitions,' helped him ask the right questions and gave him useful historical context. Jaime Teevan, chief scientist at Microsoft, said humanities expertise will have a leg-up in the AI era because the technology depends on natural language, context, intent and critical thinking.
The market has already voted on one part of this debate: businesses are speeding up adoption of AI, and workers are being told to adapt. But Rubenstein’s point is that technology does not abolish the need for literacy, communication and judgment. It raises the premium on them.
That is the part of the story Washington and the education establishment keep missing. Capital rewards clear rules, and the clearest rule in the AI era is that machines can automate tasks, but they cannot replace human judgment, persuasion or taste. Workers who can communicate will keep their leverage. Workers who cannot will be competing against software that never sleeps.
