OpenAI’s rumored plan to charge $20,000 a month for “PhD-level” AI agents is making headlines, but the real concern isn’t the price—it’s the implications. This leak feels like a market test, a way to gauge reactions and refine pricing. But the bigger issue is what happens after AI reaches that perfect price point.
AI at this level will replace highly skilled roles at scale, fundamentally reshaping industries. That’s a given. What happens when AI handles all the critical thinking and high-end decision-making? Will we still have a way to train future experts?
We assume AI will continue to improve, but true breakthroughs come from experimentation, failure, and human insight. If we hand over too much to AI without keeping the means of learning and discovery open, we risk entering an era of stagnation.
This isn’t just about who can afford AI—it’s about who gets to develop the next big ideas.
We need to think carefully about what expertise means in an AI-driven world. If we don’t, we may find ourselves in a future where we still depend on certain types of work but have lost the ability to do it ourselves.
@djglass 🤔 you have a valid point but thing about it a bit differently; from the perspective of the academic leaving academia for industry.
Most times, typical employers do not really want the skills that these academics have; they want someone to boss around and inflate their ego. Skills are a bonus (i.e. "overqualified") So the price was always a convenient excuse; never the actual issue (check out H1B filings if you like)
Do not get me wrong, though. All mentally weak things do it.