A teacher told political correspondent Aaron Newbury that their brightest pupil, aged 17, had asked a question neither they nor the Government could answer: what should he study to do when he left school? Over two years, he had watched AI write essays, code software, diagnose illness and paint pictures.
This week, Andy Burnham told him he should build a train, learn how to fix a roof or sort out his mate's plumbing. The pitch may reassure parents, but it boils down to hoping Britons can out-run machines by retreating to jobs they cannot yet do.
The limits of upskilling
This is the same gospel of upskilling preached by successive governments for years, based on the hope that change will catch up if you run away fast enough. Burnham, at least, is trying to grasp the upheaval AI is bringing.
His rivals offer different promises. The Greens are pressing for a Universal Basic Income, funded by taxing the rich, which Newbury calls a bribe: a monthly allowance in exchange for stepping aside while the wealthy consolidate their ownership of the machines.
A bribe or a future?
Newbury argues this is a fantasy in which the meek inherit the direct debit and the powerful inherit the future. Both the accelerators and the upskillers are missing the point.
The relationship with machines is being flipped upside down. They can already write letters, forge photographs and imitate voices. Meanwhile, online life is breaking the link between people.
A mental health crisis
In England alone, 8.9 million people were prescribed an antidepressant in 2024/25, a figure steadily increasing for years. Roughly 25% of young adults report a mental health condition, up from 10.1% in 2017.
The link between honest work and a dignified life may be broken for millions, yet society is still measuring itself by GDP and employment statistics as though the coming decade will look like the last one. A society that raises its young to be productive, and only productive, is preparing them for redundancy.
The conversation nobody is having
There is another way, Newbury argues: teach children to think critically rather than rely on a machine; ask what makes a good life, not merely a productive one; and explore what we owe each other and how to live with meaning when the market no longer asks for our labour.
That conversation is not being had by any party. Until one starts, no amount of train-building will save us.
