The Manning College of Information and Computer Sciences (CICS) at the University of Massachusetts is looking for ways to adapt its programs as artificial intelligence (AI) reshapes the industry and leaves future graduates feeling insecure about the changing job market.
Through the 2010s, students flocked to computer science seeing it as a secure career, but many are now fearful of how AI could impact their futures in the field.
William Ofosu, a junior informatics student, said he thinks about the shifting job market almost daily and the future he fears after graduation. “Being back in my parents’ house, applying to jobs and not hearing much back,” Ofosu said. “I take a nine-to-five at a movie theater where I’m left wondering, ‘I hope I didn’t just get this degree for nothing.”
According to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the 2025 unemployment rate among computer science graduates is around 6.1%, among the highest of any undergraduate major.
Much of the fear is in part to how AI is being used to perform tasks once reserved for entry-level employees. Tools powered by large language models can now generate code, debug programs, analyze data and automate routine software development tasks. These tasks have historically been done by new graduates looking to gain experience and move up in the field.
For students, the lack of a roadmap has been destabilizing. Marjah Sanon, a junior informatics student, said that although she loves her major, she feels “in too deep” watching the industry shift. When Sanon chose computer science, she expected long-term stability and never imagined the industry would be in the position it’s in today.
Gordon Anderson, a CICS lecturer in computer science education and curriculum development, said “students are very anxious, mainly because they don’t know what their future is going to look like. I commiserate with them — the entry-level job is not going to be like it was.”
Ethan Zuckerman, an associate professor of public policy, communication and information at UMass, said the rapid growth of AI has fractured the field into distinct camps.
He noted that some people in the field, known as “AI computer scientists,” are fully embracing the technology’s integration into research, industry and education. On the other hand, “foundationalists” focus on core principles like algorithms, systems and theory that predate AI.
A third group, which Zuckerman identifies with, studies the social, political and cultural consequences of technological systems rather than building them directly.
Zuckerman said the fragmentation within the industry complicates how institutions will respond, but pushes them to think more creatively about the future of computing education.
Anderson wants students to know that “the fundamentals of computer science are still the same, but the way implementation and engineering happen in the field will be different — and that they need to be ready and diligent.”
Casey Maloney, the associate director of experiential learning in the Manning Colleges’ Career Advising Office, said that AI’s rise has not changed her role of career preparation.
Throughout her career, Maloney’s seen students anxious about their job prospects and emphasizes that finding full-time work after graduation is challenging. “AI hasn’t changed that at all.”
The Manning College is finalizing its May 2025 graduate outcomes data, and so far, Maloney said, “we’re seeing very normal numbers.”
Still, students like Sanon remain uneasy about how AI is shaping their education and future work. She worries that new jobs “aren’t that interesting,” describing them as little more than prompt writing.
Sanon said she’s not “completely anti–artificial intelligence,” but that “it gets to a point.”
She recalled a teaching assistant who couldn’t help her complete complex work and encouraged her to use AI tools instead. “It builds resentment and makes me worry that you can no longer rely on humans to support one another,” Sanon said. “You have to worry about the trade-off, especially when it feels like your future could just be sitting down and typing into ChatGPT for a career.”
Anderson said he believes “it’s exactly the opposite, that the use of AI tools will expand creativity.” He pointed to a newly developed form of automation called “vibe coding,” where a programmer can describe an app’s intended function and generate a working version in minutes, then refine it afterward — rather than building from scratch.
“Twenty years ago, coding was different and required really tedious machine-level coding,” Anderson said. “AI tools are yet another abstraction that allows us to work at a much higher level than just writing out base code.”
When asked if AI has created a “get on board or get left behind” mentality, Anderson said it seems that way among students and in the media, but called the perspective hyperbolic, as “you’re going to have to work with it no matter what you do.”
“Since the 1960s, we’ve been hearing that AI is coming,” Anderson said. “Now that it’s here and accessible, people are in awe of it. But because they don’t fully understand it, they’re rightfully fearful. I would feel the same way if something suddenly appeared everywhere in my world that I didn’t understand.”
To combat that fear, he advises, “embrace it, learn it and use it.”
Anderson said the Manning College is actively adjusting its curriculum to prepare students for the changing industry but noted that it “is a slow process.” He added that UMass faculty have held several meetings to plan the program’s future, gathering in smaller affinity groups focused on AI, computing in society, interdisciplinary studies and foundations of computing.
Anderson belongs to the computer science education group, where the central debate is whether to ban student use of AI or integrate it into the curriculum. He said, “most faculty view it as a good thing that can be used in a not-so-good way,” and that responsible use requires questioning and exploration rather than avoidance.
In partnership with the administration of Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey, UMass launched the AI for the Commonwealth internship program, placing students in state agencies to solve public service problems, improve government efficiency, and gain hands-on AI experience.
UMass is also home to a growing body of artificial intelligence research, with faculty working across disciplines to study everything from machine learning applications to the social consequences of automation.
Anderson said as those strides are being made, the Manning College is paying great attention to the environmental impacts of AI through a range of green computing initiatives aimed at reducing its energy footprint.
Ariana Sundstrom, the assistant director of graduate student careers at the Manning College Career Advising Office, said the school is considering adding an AI major and expanding course offerings focused on the technology.
Zuckerman said an AI major is just one potential new direction; he advocates for an “information sciences” major that would separate core computer science, artificial intelligence and techno-social system studies as related but distinct fields.
Anderson said computer scientists must remain vigilant and up to date with what’s happening in the evolving field. “The Manning College is not catching up with anything … We’re right in the middle of it.”
Uno Valerie Aneh Ewah can be reached at [email protected].
