Academic Doomerism: universities sell matching and certification, and AI targets both
tianyin_xu · x · 2026-09-18
A blog post by Murat Demirbas digests Jason Potts' economics paper on why academia may be doomed: universities are platform hubs linking students, faculty, employers, donors and government in a weakest-link structure; they never sold content (books and online courses never hurt them) but matching and certification. AI is arguably the first technology to directly disrupt that promise. The viral quote adds that a great teacher passes on love of the subject—something no AI model can replicate.
More from AGI Musings
- The Left Is Split Over AI Doom: United on Regulation, Divided on Everything Else — Wired AI · 2026-09-18
- Is Consciousness Computation? A Debate From Roundworm Neurons to Drug-Altered Minds — ctjlewis · 2026-09-18
- Are 'Applications' Just a Historical Compromise? Dynamic AI Logic Could Kill SaaS — YogeshMalik · 2026-09-18
- mark_k says he's fighting two overlapping ideologies: anti-AI and wokeness — mark_k · 2026-09-18
- Critics blast LW/EA p(doom) culture: thousands reportedly consumed by AI doomerism — banteg · 2026-09-18
- UK most AI-exposed economy but lacks compute and leverage, new policy paper warns — dc_lawrence · 2026-09-18