The No. 1 Skill Employers Want Right Now? AI Literacy
How Colby prepares students to use artificial intelligence when they enter the ‘real world’
The types of tasks typically assigned to entry-level associates—data entry, building presentations, background research—can now be done faster and more efficiently with artificial intelligence. Employers expect a level of proficiency with AI programs like ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini for new hires, yet few college curricula prioritize it. That’s one reason that right now, the unemployment rate for college graduates is 5.8 percent—up from 4.6 percent for last year’s class.
Forbes recently reported that AI is expected to “fundamentally transform” the global workforce by 2050, with some estimates suggesting up to 60 percent of current jobs will require “significant adaptation” because of AI, and that automation and intelligent systems will become central to careers. At the same time, those who embrace AI, the so-called early adopters, will see 40 percent higher earnings than those who do not.
This kind of shift in the workforce is one reason why Colby launched the Davis Institute for Artificial Intelligence in 2021. The multi-disciplinary institute brings together students and faculty from across the College to learn more about artificial intelligence and explore the ways it impacts the world.
A liberal arts model for AI literacy
“Everybody is pointing to AI as a disruptive technology. The only thing we know for sure is that it will affect every industry, whether you work on a manufacturing line or as a doctor,” said Michael Donihue, the Herbert E. Wadsworth Professor of Economics and interim director of the Davis Institute for AI. “A liberal arts education makes our students more resilient in the face of these technological changes.”
A liberal arts education teaches Colby students how to think critically about the problem they’re trying to solve—and how to reach for the right tools to solve it.
Said Donihue, “Our goal is to teach students that AI is a companion, a tool as opposed to a solution generator. AI seems like the easy way out, because if you’re stuck, you can get an answer. But to actually solve your problem, you need to think deeply before you turn the machine loose on it, and then critically evaluate the results in light of the purpose that you’re trying to do.”
Large language models, or LLMs, like ChatGPT, don’t actually know the answers to questions. Instead, they combine statistically likely language patterns one block at a time. That’s why they have a reputation for hallucinations or incorrect results. While it produces text that feels like human conversation, it’s not aware—yet—of what it’s saying. As a result, it does not always produce the truth, yet many users treat it as such.
And that’s exactly why the Davis Institute is working to help faculty incorporate AI into curriculum work across disciplines, so students learn what’s real and what is not. They learn how to use it, not as a shortcut for an essay or calculus problem, but as a tool for deeper learning. Said Donihue, “This requires skill in an ability to think across disciplines and draw from different lived experiences, and those are all the kinds of things you get in a liberal arts education. That’s where Colby students have the advantage.”
Colby students navigate the job market
According to Colby data, 91 percent of graduates from the Class of 2024 landed a job or enrolled in graduate school within one year of graduation. Today’s new graduates combine a liberal arts approach to problem-solving with technical expertise around artificial intelligence so they can successfully navigate a workforce where every industry is experiencing seismic change.
Take Emmanuel Assumang ’25, who will begin working at Microsoft this fall on its AI platform. He interned with Microsoft over three summers, working on different programming teams to build and optimize machine learning models. “Colby’s classes gave me the foundation of writing and organizing code well, and understanding how these models work,” said Assumang. “Colby also has an emphasis on communication that helped me be successful in my internships.”
In addition to a technical focus as a computer science major, Assumang was a tutor for Davis AI’s MuleChat, which makes AI expertise available across campus.
“MuleChat is a place anyone can go, regardless of their discipline, regardless of their level of experience, where they can explore AI,” said Donihue. “Our students are trained in the lab to be applications engineers. They aren’t there for solutions, but rather to help you think through what you want to solve, and how to use the tool to solve it.”
Colby students learn how to learn on the job
Max Duchesne ’23 spent the first years of his career as an associate at Boston Consulting Group before joining AI startup Remark, which is working to improve e-commerce shopping experiences by incorporating human expertise. At Remark, he joined fellow Colby grads Theo Satloff ’19—a member of the Halloran Lab for Entrepreneurship Advisory Board—Ian Patterson ’18, and Carl-Philip Majgaard ’18, who also works at Colby’s DavisConnects as a specialist for technology.
As their chief of staff, Duchesne is using his computer science and economics majors to solve problems around the organization. “It’s a lot of strategy and operations. I work closely with the CEO but also move around based on what different teams need at any given time,” said Duchesne. “I think software engineers without an understanding of how the world works around those tools are at a big disadvantage, in the same way that anyone working in tech without an understanding of software is at a disadvantage. Colby’s interdisciplinary approach helped me see how it all works together.”
Duchesne credits this approach with his early career success.
“I took a neural networks course at Colby, so I understand what’s going on under the hood with our product,” he said. “But a bigger piece of my job right now is communication. The best advice I received in my first-year writing class was that every time you write a word on the page, it has to add value in some way. I still think of that every time I’m writing a report, doing documentation, or drafting an email.”
Working in tech, Duchesne uses AI on a daily basis for productivity. “AI, for me, is a productivity tool,” he said. “I think it’s a great tool to get feedback and suggestions to make your work better, to make sure I haven’t missed something important. But I think you still need human creativity to drive the work. Ultimately, you’re going to be the one thinking critically about the outputs, synthesizing everything, and figuring out what to act on.”
Preparing students for their first job
Whether students want to build the next AI model or simply use it effectively in their jobs, Colby’s DavisConnects offers workshops and one-on-one advising to help them bring the vision to life. Students who are passionate about entrepreneurship and technology often call Majgaard at DavisConnects. When he’s not leading Remark’s engineering team, Majgaard advises students looking to launch their careers.
“Software engineering, product management, or anything technology related, that’s what I help students with,” he said. “DavisConnects has really flipped the model of career advising. We’re not just showing them how to fix their résumé, but promoting understanding of how to build a career path through internships, research, and global experiences as part of your Colby education.”
‘AI, for me, is a productivity tool. I think it’s a great tool to get feedback and suggestions to make your work better, to make sure I haven’t missed something important. But I think you still need human creativity to drive the work. Ultimately, you’re going to be the one thinking critically about the outputs, synthesizing everything, and figuring out what to act on.”
Max Duchesne ’23
Majgaard and the rest of the DavisConnects team teach students ways to use AI as a sounding board while they explore different career paths, rather than a shortcut for applications. For example, students can take a workshop using an AI guide through various questions about their skill set, preferences, and personalities, giving them a set of recommendations that open their eyes to different career paths.
Said Majgaard, “You don’t leave Colby with just a class that teaches you how to produce REST APIs or a well-organized database. You leave Colby with a strong understanding of the principles of computing, sure, but you also learn how to teach yourself, how to ask questions, and how to think critically about the tools and technologies that we choose. I’m so blessed to have those skills, because it’s made me driven to explore new possibilities—and you can apply that anywhere.”
