American venture capitalist Vinod Khosla on how AI can change this 'bad' career advice: ‘15 years from now…’

Vinod Khosla believes artificial intelligence (AI) could change how people think about career advice in the coming years. Speaking on Fortune’s Titans and Disruptors of Industry podcast, the investor said advances in AI may eventually make the commonly debated advice to “follow your passion” more practical for future generations.“Fifteen years from now, you will say—what is bad advice today or used to be … ‘Follow your passion. Follow your passion’ comes second to surviving. I think that surviving part will go away, and you’ll tell every 5-year-old kid, ‘Follow your passion,’” Khosla added.However, Khosla said the advice to “follow your passion” may not always work in the current job market, where many people still follow a traditional path of education and employment to support themselves. He suggested that AI could change that model over time.Khosla said AI may eventually perform around 80% of current jobs across fields such as medicine, accounting, sales, and radiology, which could lower labour costs and reduce the prices of goods and services.

In that scenario, he said future generations may not need a college degree or even traditional employment to make a living.

How AI is changing career advices

Universities and workplaces are increasingly discussing the value of traditional higher education as AI adoption increases. Several tech leaders have raised doubts about whether long-standing career paths still apply in a labour market shaped by AI. In that context, Vinod Khosla has said younger generations should focus on developing the ability to learn quickly and continuously, which he views as a skill that technology is less likely to replace.

LinkedIn CEO Ryan Roslansky has also commented on the changing nature of career planning. He told students that having a five-year career plan is “outdated” and “a little bit foolish” given how quickly AI is reshaping the workplace.However, some technology leaders take a different view. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said that if he were graduating at age 22 today, he would “feel like the luckiest kid in all of history.”Altman told video journalist Cleo Abram that by 2035, today’s graduates “could very well be leaving on a mission to explore the solar system—in some completely new, exciting, super well-paid, super interesting job.” He also added a caveat, saying, “if they still go to college at all.”Alexandr Wang, founder of Scale AI and Meta's chief AI officer, has offered specific advice to younger audiences. Speaking on the TBPN Podcast, Wang said teenagers should spend significant time experimenting with AI tools.“If you are 13 years old, you should spend all of your time vibe coding. That’s how you should live your life,” Wang said. He added that spending around 10,000 hours experimenting with AI tools could become a “huge advantage.”