A software engineer reflects on how the title 'Software Engineer' lacks the rigor and formal credentialing required of traditional engineers like mechanical or plumbing engineers, arguing that software engineering involves deeper systems thinking beyond coding skills and craftsmanship.
American colleges face simultaneous pressures from AI, the pandemic, and funding cuts that expose a fundamental contradiction: higher education bundles incompatible missions—credentialing for careers and providing coming-of-age experiences—that are increasingly unbundling as technology and globalization reduce the campus's monopoly on both functions.
AI models now provide personalized explanations and tutoring that were historically only available within university walls, undermining the institution's 900-year monopoly on knowledge dissemination. This shift challenges the underlying value proposition of higher education, which has long bundled content delivery, credentialing, and socialization into a single offering organized around scarce, gatekept knowledge.