Warning: London School of Economics and Nobel Prize-winning economist professor Christopher Pissarides
A Nobel Prize winning-economist has warned young people against studying STEM subjects as tech jobs risk being replaced by artificial intelligence (AI).
School leavers have for years been encouraged to choose science, technology, engineering and maths degrees.
Subjects such as computer science were thought to boost employment chances in comparison to humanities and arts courses. But London School of Economics (LSE) professor Christopher Pissarides said other attributes like communication, managerial and creative skills are more important.
Those skills cannot be replaced by robots while some STEM roles could eventually be made redundant by AI, he said.
Pissarides, 75, told Bloomberg that despite growth in the sector, there may not be jobs for all STEM graduates.
Pissarides, who jointly won the Nobel Prize in 2010 for research on the impact of unemployment, has said AI could allow staff to spend less time at work and strengthen the case for a four-day week.