Law and Medicine Students Accused of Wasting Time, Here's Why

Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia - Graduates considered prestigious, such as those in law and medicine, are said to become irrelevant in the future. The reason is once again the advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) technology. In fact, law and medicine students are deemed to be merely wasting their time.

This controversial statement was made by Jad Tarifi, the founder of Google’s first generative AI team. According to him, the time students spend pursuing law or medicine degrees will be wasted as AI catches up before they graduate.

“AI itself will have advanced by the time you complete your PhD degree. Even things like applying AI to robotics will have been resolved by then,” said Tarifi, who is also a PhD graduate in AI, quoted from Fortune on Wednesday (1/4/2026).

Obtaining professional degrees such as doctor or lawyer requires a long time. It even takes nearly a decade to produce one graduate entering the workforce.

Tarifi explained that this lengthy duration will cause them to enter the workforce with outdated knowledge.

In addition, he also criticised the current education methods. According to him, the methods used still rely on memorisation rather than developing relevant skills in the AI era.

Tarifi also highlighted advanced academic degrees, including PhDs. Graduates of such degrees may also not gain added value because the acceleration of innovation in AI surpasses the time to complete the degree.

“Success in the future will not come from accumulating credentials, but from developing a unique perspective, emotional awareness, and strong interpersonal relationships,” said Tarifi.

The advice he gives to the younger generation is to focus on human skills that are not easily replicated by AI. For example, empathy skills and interpersonal abilities, as well as emotional self-development.