A former Google AI leader just shook up the conversation about higher education. Jad Tarifi, who founded Google’s first generative AI team, argues that spending years on law, medicine, or PhDs is a waste of time. According to Fortune, he believes students are “throwing away years of their life” while AI evolves faster than any academic program can keep up.
Yet the paradox remains: while tech leaders dismiss traditional credentials, companies continue luring PhD talent with lucrative offers, fueling debate over higher education’s future.
His words raise an uncomfortable question for ambitious students: are these expensive, time-intensive degrees already becoming obsolete? Let’s take a closer look.
Who Exactly Is Jad Tarifi?
Tarifi’s background makes his warning difficult to dismiss. He earned his PhD in AI from the University of Florida in 2012, then joined Google Research. There, he spent nearly a decade leading AI teams, according to Business Insider.
Today, he runs Integral AI, the company he co-founded in 2021. Having lived in both worlds, academia and industry, Tarifi has a front-row seat to how fast the gap between traditional education and real-world AI innovation is widening.
Why He Thinks Degrees Waste Valuable Time
Tarifi points out a blunt reality: medical school often takes eight years, law school seven, and PhDs between four and six. According to Business Insider, he warns that AI is advancing so quickly that much of what students learn during those long stretches becomes outdated.
In his own words, “AI itself is going to be gone by the time you finish a PhD.” It’s a sobering thought that challenges long-held beliefs about higher education.