Anthropic cofounder says humanities skills will matter more in AI era
Daniela Amodei said Anthropic looks for communication, curiosity and empathy as AI changes white-collar work.
By Daniel Okafor · Business Editor
3 min read
Anthropic cofounder Daniela Amodei said AI will make human judgment, communication and emotional intelligence more valuable in the workplace. Her comments add to a growing argument among technology and finance executives that workers do not need only technical training to stay relevant as AI tools improve.
In an ABC News interview that aired Saturday, Amodei said the number of roles AI can perform without human involvement is “vanishingly small.” She said AI can also support people doing demanding cognitive work, creating jobs that are more productive, challenging and meaningful.
Amodei, who cofounded Anthropic with her brother Dario Amodei, is the company’s president. Dario Amodei is Anthropic’s chief executive.
What Anthropic looks for
Amodei told ABC News that Anthropic weighs qualities such as communication, emotional intelligence, kindness, compassion and curiosity when evaluating candidates. She said the company also values people who want to help others.
Her comments came as AI coding tools draw attention to how quickly technical work may change. Fortune reported that the release of Anthropic’s latest AI coding tools contributed to a broad selloff in technology stocks this past week, as investors weighed the prospect that less technical expertise may be needed to write and maintain software.
Amodei’s own background is outside a traditional engineering path. Fortune reported that she studied literature at the University of California, Santa Cruz, worked briefly as a Capitol Hill staffer, then moved into technology through roles at Stripe and OpenAI before helping start Anthropic in 2020.
Amodei told ABC News that humanities education will remain valuable because AI models are already strong in many STEM tasks. She pointed to critical thinking, writing, understanding history and working with other people as abilities that could become more useful as AI systems take on more technical functions.
Other executives make a similar case
JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon has also argued that emotional intelligence and communication will matter more as AI changes work. Fortune reported that Dimon said in December that AI will eliminate some jobs, but young workers who build critical thinking, writing and meeting skills will still have many job opportunities.
IBM CEO Ginni Rometty made a related point in a 2023 interview with Fortune, saying wider use of generative AI would increase the value of collaboration, judgment and critical thinking. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said on Axel Springer CEO Mathias Döpfner’s MD Meets podcast in November that empathy and emotional intelligence are becoming more important as AI handles more analytical and technical tasks.
Fortune also reported that more Gen Z workers are questioning whether college is required for career success, with some choosing trade schools and hands-on fields such as manufacturing, construction and maintenance. Amodei’s remarks were aimed at people considering white-collar work, where she said human skills can complement increasingly capable AI systems.
This story draws on original reporting from Fortune.