12 reasons to ignore computer science degrees

Does the tech world need computer science? Not the computers or the chips, but the abstract collection of theories taught in universities with departments sporting that name. Not science in general, but the idea of thinking about programming with a theoretical lens. 

The question becomes trickier now that AI will be quickly putting us all out of business. AI will be able to think deeply about computing ideas so we don’t need to. They can already keep track of billions of tidbits of knowledge. Is there any point to computer science as a discipline if we can ask the AIs to build something majestic while we nap?

It’s not that the field of computer science hasn’t delivered. There are petabytes of LaTeX files filled with brilliant ideas, like new programming languages, clever search algorithms, machine vision algorithms, and millions of notions in between. Many are even wonderful.

The problem is that few of us really need much of it. One friend confessed he’s watched a development team flourish by passing over CS graduates and hiring only physicists, accountants, or any other math-savvy person. These new employees are more practical about getting the machines to deliver, which is all most businesses want to do.