There’s never been a scarier time to be a computer science student, with tech CEOs fearmongering that AI will replace all white-collar jobs or that software engineers will be replaced in months, even as their own companies aggressively hire them and walk back their job apocalypse prophecies. So how do you get a tech job now that AI can write code, and is a computer science degree still worth it? I mean…chat, are we cooked? Not at all!

In this talk, we’ll start with a quick history of AI and a live next-token prediction exercise to see how LLMs work under the hood. From there, we’ll examine why writing code was never the real bottleneck in software engineering, and follow the money through GPUs, data centers, and layoffs. We’ll cut through AI washing to see why companies are cutting costs to pay for ridiculously expensive compute, and why some employers are already rehiring the workers they thought AI could replace.

You’ll also meet AI Engineering, the fastest-growing job on LinkedIn, and see why it’s much more accessible than Machine Learning. We’ll cover the AI terms you should know, which technical skills and certifications still matter, how AI resume screeners and interviews work, and what a resume that landed a Microsoft software engineering internship looks like. Coding manually is dead, but the judgment, systems thinking, and accountability of software engineering are becoming more valuable, not less. Times might be changing, but we aren’t cooked. Far from it.

Slides: https://segunakinyemi.com/slides/were-not-cooked/
Format: 45-60 minute talk for college students studying computer science or related majors.