Palantir CEO Alex Karp has warned that jobs rooted in the humanities are facing extinction in the age of artificial intelligence, despite his own elite humanities-focused academic background, according to a report from Business Insider. Karp, who holds a philosophy degree from Haverford College, attended Stanford Law School, and later earned a Ph.D. in neoclassical social theory in Germany, described his education as “a very, very strong education” while speaking during a panel at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Tuesday.
However, Karp told BlackRock CEO Larry Fink, who moderated the discussion, that such an academic path would now be a liability, arguing that AI “will destroy humanities jobs,” and warning graduates, “You went to an elite school, and you studied philosophy — hopefully you have some other skill,” because the skill set would be difficult to market. He added that while humanities graduates might retain jobs once employed, demand would heavily favor technicians and those with vocational skills, citing workers who build batteries as “very valuable, if not irreplaceable,” and noting that “there will be more than enough jobs for the citizens of your nation, especially those with vocational training.”
Karp’s remarks, however, were met with differing views at Davos, as some finance executives told Business Insider that liberal arts degrees could gain renewed value as AI absorbs technical analysis, placing a premium on critical and creative thinking. Meanwhile, Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis and Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei said during a joint panel that AI was already reducing entry-level hiring, with Amodei noting that software and coding roles at Anthropic had declined at both junior and mid-level positions.