Tech leaders and well-known thinkers are wondering if it still makes sense to spend years in lecture halls when AI can write, code, and analyse faster than many graduates. This is going on all the way from San Francisco to Paris. Their argument is starting to sound loud in France, where long academic study has long shaped careers and social status.
In Silicon Valley, the New Gospel is to Stop Going to School and Start Building
At a crowded tech conference in late 2025, Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI and the face of ChatGPT, praised Gen Z students who had dropped out of college. He said he was “jealous” of people who had dropped out of school because they now had more freedom and chances than ever before.
Altman was not speaking in broad terms. At 19, he left college. The dropout visionary is a well-known story in American tech culture, and his fits that mould. Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg are well-known for dropping out of Harvard. Alexandr Wang, the young billionaire who now runs artificial intelligence at Meta, left the Massachusetts Institute of Technology at the same age.
A French Shock Book That Talks About the “Death of the Diploma”
This talk isn’t just about California anymore. A new book has made the debate even more heated in France, a country that has always valued formal credentials. The title is very clear: Stop studying. Stop your studies. Buchet-Chastel’s book “Learn Differently in the Age of AI” came out in 2025.
The people who wrote it are famous and controversial. Laurent Alexandre is a vocal supporter of transhumanism, which is a movement that wants to use technology to make people better. He talks to Jordan Bardella, who is the leader of the far-right. Olivier Babeau is a professor and writer at the University of Bordeaux. They all agree that the diploma is no longer useful.
Why This Message Has a Different Effect in France
The argument happens in a place where school credentials are very important in public life. A lot of France’s top civil servants, business leaders, and politicians went to “grandes écoles,” which are very selective schools that lead to power.
That makes the story about being against degrees both interesting and strangely appealing. A lot of young people in France feel trapped in a system where they have to take hard tests, stick to strict schedules, and work for free, with no guarantee of a stable job at the end.
When tech leaders say that talent is more important than a certificate, some people hear a promise of freedom. Some people think this is a dangerous lie that could make the gap between people who can take risks and people who can’t afford to fail even bigger.
AI as the Cause: What Changes and What Stays the Same
This whole argument is about AI. ChatGPT and other tools can do things that used to be done by junior graduates, like writing, coding, summarising long documents, scanning legal texts, or medical literature.
This can make general, textbook knowledge less useful for businesses.
It makes students wonder why they should spend years learning things that machines can do right away.
It makes it harder for colleges and universities to give grades and change their classes.
The dropout story says that in a world like this, the portfolio is more important than the diploma. This includes things like sending out products, writing code, and making communities. People in Silicon Valley love hearing about teens who learned online, started a business, and made millions before they could buy a drink.
But the Picture Isn’t Clear. AI Also Makes It More Important to Know a Lot About Law, Ethics, Advanced Math, Medicine, and Government. Degrees in
There is a harsher truth behind the glamorous stories of billionaires who dropped out of school. Gates and Zuckerberg didn’t just drop out of any school; they dropped out of Harvard, where they already had strong networks and family safety nets.
In France, a student who drops out of an engineering school in Lyon or a business school in Lille does not automatically get access to venture capital and mentors from Silicon Valley. Without a diploma and no clear way back into the system, they might end up doing dangerous gig work.
What French Students Are Really Up To
A lot of French students are hedging instead of leaving college. They still have their degree, but they study and work in a different way.
Some common strategies are:
- Starting businesses or side projects while still in school.
- Using AI tools to get things done faster and make time for internships.
- Choosing shorter, vocational programs over five-year elite tracks.
- Taking online classes in coding, design, or data along with regular classes.
Who Benefits the Most from the Talk About Not Getting a Degree?
Some tech companies want to see the “death of the diploma” story come true. Companies can hire younger, less experienced workers who are cheaper if credentials aren’t as important. They can also hire people from all over the world and focus on skills tests instead of accredited programs.
People in France are worried that this kind of talk makes public universities less important and makes people want to go to private boot camps and corporate training schools instead. Those other choices can be flexible and work well, but they are often expensive and not very well controlled.
The Religion of Improvement and Transhumanism
Laurent Alexandre’s participation connects the degree discourse to transhumanism, a movement that promotes the utilisation of technology to enhance physical and cognitive abilities. If you think that way, you should always be working on your human capital.
Signalling Versus Skills
Economists often call degrees “signals.” A diploma doesn’t just show what you know; it also shows things like how well you follow rules, how persistent you are, and how smart you are. AI makes that signal harder to see.
Grades don’t tell us much about what someone really knows; they only tell us what a chatbot can do. For instance, if a chatbot can write well-organised essays or pass certain tests. Employers then look for other ways to test someone’s skills, such as live coding tests, trial periods, project portfolios, and recommendations from coworkers.
Teenagers Should Think About Their Choices in Real Life
A French high school graduate in 2026 has to make a choice tree that is harder than the one their parents made. One realistic option is to begin a degree and establish explicit objectives throughout the process. After a year or two, they can see what they’ve learned, how the job market is doing, and if side projects are getting more attention.
You could also choose to do a shorter program that focuses on skills, like a two-year technical diploma or design school. You could also use AI tools to make a strong online portfolio. This is a middle ground: a real proof of skill and a recognised qualification.
The worst thing that could happen is quitting early without a plan, savings, or a support network and hoping for viral success that never happens.
| Long Degree in the Past | Early Dropout, Path to Starting Up | Hybrid: A Degree and Self-Study |
|---|---|---|
| Recognised credentials, a wide range of knowledge, access to networks, and jobs in the public sector | Quickness, learning in the real world, and a chance for a big payoff if the business succeeds | A diploma that is recognised, a variety of skills, and the ability to change direction |
| Cost, time, and a slow response to quick changes in technology | High rate of failure, weak safety net, and harder to get back into formal jobs | A lot of work to do, a chance of getting burnt out, and priorities that aren’t clear |
What Comes Next in the Argument?
The battle between formal education and the story of students quitting school because of AI will go on for a long time. France still believes in schools that rank students, competitive exams, and well-planned careers. At the same time, the tech sector’s disruptive ethos, which well-known people like Altman and Alexandre have pushed, has already begun to change how young people think about learning, taking risks, and being successful.
