Is a college degree is still worth it? Here are 3 things it can teach you that AI can’t do

College is expensive, and a growing number of skeptics have questioned its value proposition. Palantir CEO Alex Karp said late last year it doesn’t really matter where his employees went to college, and Apple CEO Tim Cook has said a four-year degree isn’t even required to work at the company. The rise of AI has only added to doubts of a degree’s value. But some economists say college still holds some implicit value, like teaching students things AI could never learn how to do. Carl Benedikt Frey is an economist at the University of Oxford and the author of a famous 2013 paper that estimated automation could put nearly half of U.S. jobs at risk. He paints a troubling picture for the future of white-collar U.S. jobs, saying as AI advances, high-skilled work is more likely to be offshored. “If AI makes these jobs easier, you will see more activities shifting towards places where labor is cheaper, whether that’s India or the Philippines,” Frey told Fortune. “I think that’s going to put a lot of pressure on people’s wages doing knowledge work.” Despite his estimation, Frey said earning a college degree is still worthwhile, as it imparts three core skills in which humans hold a competitive edge over AI: complex social interactions, creativity, and navigating complex environments. Complex social interactions AI has made leaps in communication advancements during the past decade. Despite that, Frey said those improvements actually make human-to-human interaction more valuable. “The value of social skills have gone up over the past decade, whereas the value of math skills has been trending downwards,” Frey said. That’s because AI can’t hold a meeting as well as it can solve long division. Communication and emotional intelligence are things AI models cannot replicate—at least for now—maintaining their value in the workplace. A 2025 Stanford University study evaluating how AI will shift valued skills in the workplace found communication skills will grow in im