The degree may no longer be the golden ticket. According to Palantir chief executive Alex Karp, AI could strip economic power from university-educated women and hand it to working-class men, remaking America's politics and society along the way.
Who wins when AI reshapes the job market? According to Alex Karp, humanities-trained professionals, whom he links largely to Democratic voters, could lose economic power, while vocationally trained workers, many of them men, could gain it.
He even suggested that anyone who failed to recognise the political consequences of this shift belonged in an 'insane asylum'.
If he's right, the shift could deepen divisions over gender, education and politics.
Why Palantir's CEO Thinks Educated Women Could Lose Out
'This technology disrupts humanities-trained – largely Democratic – voters, and makes their economic power less, and increases the economic power of vocationally trained, working-class, often male, voters,' Karp said.
He warned that AI could reshape society, leaving some workers with fewer attractive career opportunities.
'And so these disruptions are gonna disrupt every aspect of our society. And to make this work, we have to come to an agreement of what it is we're going to do with the technology; how are we gonna explain to people who are likely gonna have less good, and less interesting jobs.'
His prediction suggests educated professionals, particularly women in white-collar careers, could face growing economic pressure as AI transforms the workplace.
AI Could Become Another Battleground in America's Political Divide
Karp's prediction has a political edge that is hard to ignore.
Here's the logic. Karp links humanities degrees with Democratic voters, so if AI chips away at those careers, a group tied to university-educated professional life could lose ground. That could mean smaller paycheques, fewer career options and less political influence.
Meanwhile, people with vocational skills might get a boost. If AI makes practical expertise more valuable, industries that rely on physical labour could thrive.
Still, nobody knows how this will play out. AI could change blue-collar work too, and it might create new openings for graduates.
Why Palantir's Position Makes the Prediction More Controversial
Karp's words carry extra weight because of the company he runs. Palantir builds AI-powered software for government, defence and intelligence customers, including US agencies like Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and foreign militaries such as the Israeli Defence Forces.
That puts him at the centre of a much bigger debate. It's not just about jobs, but also about government power, surveillance and how wars are fought.
And there's a twist. AI is usually sold as a way to boost productivity and create opportunity. Karp is openly talking about how it could shift economic influence from one part of society to another.
Karp is not the only Palantir executive predicting a shift away from traditional professional careers.
Co-founder Joe Lonsdale previously criticised what he called 'feminine energy' in American leadership, declaring it was 'time to bring back masculine leadership'.
Meanwhile, Palantir's UK chief executive Louis Mosley warned that AI could weaken the influence of bureaucrats and other professionals, whom he called the 'lanyard class'.
Writing for The Spectator, Mosley argued: 'We don't need bureaucracy to control AI, we need AI to cut bureaucracy.'
Together, their comments suggest AI could shift economic power away from white-collar professionals and towards blue-collar workers. But who will ultimately benefit most from the AI revolution remains an open question.
