AI Godfather Geoffrey Hinton Warns Students: Don’t Give Up Your Computer Science Degree Yet

Geoffrey Hinton, one of the most respected voices in the world of artificial intelligence and often called the AI Godfather has a clear message for students and young engineers. In an interview with Business

Insider, He said that this isn't the time to give up on computer science degrees even if AI is changing the coding industry."Many people think a CS degree is just programming or something. Obviously, just being a competent mid-level programmer is not going to be a career for much longer, because AI can do that. CS degree will be valuable for quite a long time," Geoffrey Hinton was quoted as saying to Business Insider. Hinton said many people wrongly assume that a CS degree is only about learning how to code. He explained that basic programming jobs may not survive for long because AI systems are already capable of doing mid-level coding tasks. But he stressed that computer science as a discipline will continue to be valuable for years.According to Hinton, the real value of a CS degree lies in the fundamentals -- systems thinking, mathematics, logic, and problem-solving. These are the skills that shape how technology works at its core.Interestingly, Hinton compared learning to code to studying Latin in school. "I think it's very useful to learn to code and even if they end up not having AI do all the coding for them. I think learning to code is, it is maybe a bit like learning Latin is if you're in the humanities or something, you're never going to speak Latin, but it's still useful learning Latin, he added.Hinton also shared what skills will matter most for the next generation of AI researchers and engineers. He said that maths, probability, statistics, and linear algebra as evergreen skills that will remain important no matter how fast AI evolves. These fundamentals, he said, are not going away.Hinton also commented on the current AI race between Google and OpenAI. He said Google is finally closing the gap and may even be ahead after the launch of Gemini 3. He added that the more surprising part is that it took Google so long to catch up to OpenAI’s GPT models.