An IEEE Spectrum contributor, reflecting on his children's education, argues that AI will not replace engineers but will multiply the output of those with strong foundations. The article identifies three skills that will outlive any specific AI tool: writing, speaking, and the ability to be bored. Writing matters because text remains the primary interface with AI models, and clear articulation improves results—but more fundamentally, writing forces you to develop your own ideas rather than letting a model manufacture opinions for you.
Speaking is framed as a premium skill in a moment of digital saturation and renewed interest in in-person events. The author notes that AI can generate a presentation but cannot convincingly deliver it to a skeptical audience, which requires emotional intelligence and the ability to listen, persuade, and disagree constructively. The third skill, boredom, is presented as the hardest to cultivate in an environment engineered to eliminate silence; the author argues that letting the mind wander is a breeding ground for original ideas.
The piece does not present data or competing viewpoints; it is a personal essay. It explicitly warns against optimizing education around today's tools, suggesting instead that durable skills—clear writing, confident speaking, and independent thinking—will remain valuable regardless of how AI evolves. The only implicit tension is with schools that either embrace or ban AI, but the author does not resolve that debate, instead focusing on what individuals can control.