Former Google AI leader Jad Tarifi warns that pursuing lengthy degrees like Ph.D., law, or medicine may be futile as AI evolves too rapidly, urging instead hands-on work or emotional development.
In a recent Business Insider interview reported by Futurism, former Googler Jad Tarifi, the 42-year-old founder of Google’s first generative AI team, cautioned against pursuing advanced degrees in law, medicine, or even AI itself. Tarifi argued that the fast pace of technological evolution risks rendering those fields—and the degrees that train for them—obsolete before students can complete their studies .
Tarifi emphasized his concern particularly for medicine and law, which demand years of costly, rote memorization. He described this model of education as “so outdated,” calling advanced degrees in these arenas tantamount to “throwing away several years of one’s life” . He extended that critique to PhD programs in AI, stating bluntly: “AI itself is going to be gone by the time you finish a PhD,” and even applications like AI in robotics will be “solved” before graduation .
Tarifi, who earned his own PhD in AI from the University of Florida in 2012 and worked at Google until 2021, now leads the startup Integral AI. He suggested that unless one is “obsessed with the field,” a PhD is not worth the pain, time, or financial investment . Instead, he advised students to focus on emerging niches like AI for biology—or purposefully do nothing at all .
Beyond credentials, Tarifi urged a return to human-centric qualities. “The best thing to work on is more internal,” he told BI. “Meditate. Socialize with your friends. Get to know yourself emotionally,” he said, emphasizing emotional intelligence over formal qualifications .