Google's Generative AI Founder's Warning: Doctors and Lawyers Will Soon Be Replaced

Artificial intelligence continues to spark debate about the future of work and education. One of the pioneers in this field, Jad Tarifi, who led the first generative AI team at Google before founding his own startup, Integral AI, issued a warning to students considering investing years in careers such as medicine or law. According to the expert, the rapid advancement of technology could render these fields obsolete in the near future.

In an interview with Business Insider, Tarifi noted that the constant improvement in AI capabilities threatens to displace professionals who invest time and resources in advanced degrees. “No one should ever pursue a PhD unless they are obsessed with that field,” the expert stated, emphasizing that the opportunity cost of dedicating so many years to study could prove to be a wasted investment if artificial intelligence continues to expand its applications.

The founder of Integral AI particularly highlighted the risk faced by future doctors and lawyers, given that both professions require lengthy educational processes and high costs. “In the current medical system, what you learn in college is very outdated and based on memorization,” he explained. For Tarifi, earning an advanced degree in medicine or law could be equivalent to “wasting several years of your life.”

The expert warned that AI tools are already beginning to automate tasks previously considered exclusive to these professions. In the case of law, for example, there are systems capable of analyzing contracts and performing legal searches with great precision. In medicine, algorithms are applied in diagnostic imaging, clinical data analysis, and risk predictions.

Although these technologies still have limitations and errors, Tarifi believes their progress is rapid enough to rethink the way young people plan their academic future.

The Future of PhDs and AI

The specialist, who holds a PhD in artificial intelligence, also questioned the value of advanced studies in his own field. “Even issues like the application of AI to robotics will be resolved upon completing a PhD,” he noted. In his opinion, it would only make sense to focus on very specific areas, such as the application of AI to biology, which is still in an early stage of development.

Tarifi isn't the only one raising these warnings. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has also suggested that artificial intelligence has reached levels of reasoning comparable to a PhD. These claims, although controversial, reflect the confidence of technology leaders in the potential of these tools.

Between Caution and Reality

Despite his warnings, Tarifi himself acknowledges that artificial intelligence is not yet capable of completely replacing doctors or lawyers in practice. Current systems still have serious flaws when applying complex knowledge in real-life scenarios. However, the risk, according to him, lies in students jeopardizing their futures on careers whose job market could radically transform in the coming years.

The former Google executive's advice is to look beyond degrees and focus on human development: "Meditate. Socialize with your friends. Get to know yourself emotionally," he told Business Insider. His words, although critical, put an urgent question at the center of the debate: how to prepare the next generations in a world where technology advances faster than traditional educational models.

With millions of young people making decisions about their academic future, Tarifi's warning raises a new question about the true value of university degrees in the face of the unstoppable advance of artificial intelligence.

Given this scenario, Tarifi, as reported by Futurism, offers some guidelines for navigating this new era. He advises caution with generic postgraduate degrees in artificial intelligence and instead suggests specializing in high-value niches, such as the application of AI in biology. This view underscores the importance of hyperspecialization over generalization in the technological field.