Trying, Listening to Your Inner Voice, Building Your Irreplaceability — Four Gen Zers on Opportunities and Choices in the AI Era

Are you standing at a career crossroads, feeling lost, anxious, and excited all at once?

In the AI era, this emotional mix may come more frequently — jobs that once felt stable no longer are, with opportunity and risk arriving simultaneously. A recent data point from Y Combinator partner Garry Tan was surprising: in the United States, computer science undergraduates face an unemployment rate above 6%, while art majors sit at just 3%.

In this episode, we spoke with four young people about their choices and pivots:

• After years on one path, if you realize it's not the right fit, do you have the courage to walk away?
• In a field you've invested deeply in, if you want to switch directions, do you dare start over?
• Entering an entirely new creative world, would you use AI to carve out a fresh path?
• Not yet graduated, if a chance to start a company appeared, would you seize it?

In July, we partnered with friends at IDG Capital on a small survey about Gen Z life and work, followed by in-depth interviews with several individuals. Though the sample is limited, their stories reveal an authentic slice of how young people are navigating the AI wave. Our thanks to Chenran, Leo, Shutong, and Ryan for sharing, and to everyone who participated in our WeChat survey.

Their stories mirror what many face at the career and life crossroads of the AI era: probing, adjusting, and searching for direction amid uncertainty.

After hearing their stories, what would you choose?

03:30 — Three millennials recall the job market when they graduated

04:30 — Finance and computer science were the highest-scoring majors on the gaokao

06:13 — Foreign companies were highly sought after; the mobile internet startup wave was just beginning

07:23 — Choosing entrepreneurship without hesitation after graduation

07:50 — Our phone interviews with four Gen Z young people, sharing their post-graduation job search stories

08:09 — Chenran: Majored in computer science, but explored content creation throughout school

10:24 — Faced some confusion in undergrad; the computer science talent market felt saturated

12:45 — Not many classmates went to Big Tech; after accepting the reality, people found their own ways to make peace with it

13:39 — Leo: From trying university teaching and research to becoming an analyst at McKinsey & Company

18:09 — A very practical job search method: list directions of interest, score them across different criteria

20:37 — There was a period of unhappiness, but life's ups and downs across every dimension are all experience

21:52 — Don't define success; being happy in the moment and bringing joy to those around you is success and happiness enough

22:52 — Shutong: Tried all three directions in medicine, knowing in her heart what she didn't enjoy

24:23 — Finding people on LinkedIn who had switched careers from the same major, finding resonance in conversation

27:32 — "For a long time as a child I tried to be someone else" — but you can't become someone else, you can only become yourself

28:55 — Ryan: Started a company while still in school, chose entrepreneurship over an overseas university offer after graduation

31:59 — Analysis of differences in upbringing environments between the 00s/05s generation and the 85s/90s

33:25 — Everyone feels excited about AI; there was anxiety when ChatGPT first launched, but China is vast — more people's AI awareness came after DeepSeek went viral

35:13 — Sensing Gen Z's pressure: from the macro environment, and from peers nearby

35:31 — Gen Z spends more time thinking "what do I want"

37:44 — They have abundant curiosity, actively explore, and walk broader paths

39:00 — Young people also need companies and platforms to offer room for error

42:02 — AI's impact on young people is smaller than we imagined

43:10 — Every generation has its own challenges; the AI era also unlocks many possibilities

46:22 — How the four interviewees view AI-driven opportunities and shifts in mindset and lifestyle

46:36 — Chenran: AI completely changed my perspective; there are new opportunities even in an economic downturn

50:42 — "The most helpful thing for my career development has been building in public"

54:30 — Now more drawn to pursuing attention freedom

55:08 — Leo: AI changed how I work

56:52 — Increasing your irreplaceability: do more people-facing work, iterate knowledge rapidly

58:24 — Shutong: Has concerns about AI, thinks about how to develop her own strengths rather than trying to fill every gap

1:00:05 — "AI is my little employee"

1:01:43 — Compared to AI anxiety, sees more age anxiety around her, making choices that don't fit due to peer pressure

1:02:19 — Ryan: AI significantly lowers the barrier to doing things; more young people are recognizing the importance of self-agency

1:04:49 — Two directions of work that are hard to replace: first, careers involving people; second, racing against AI, being faster than AI

1:06:24 — Bonus time

Welcome to the Crossroads podcast 🚦 We track the industry shifts and new entrepreneurial opportunities brought by the next wave of AI technology.

🚦 "Crossroads" was Steve Jobs's metaphor for Apple — standing at the intersection of technology and liberal arts, where great products are born. AI is transforming every industry. We seek out, interview, and bring together a new generation of AI founders and proactive actors in the AI era, exploring and embracing the changes and new possibilities alongside them.

👦🏻 Host Koji: Co-founded Jiepang / The Fair / Tangdao, launched AI Hacker House, a community space for the new generation of AI entrepreneurs. I believe technology, especially AI, represents the greatest value creation opportunity of our generation. Feel free to reach out to chat, bounce ideas, and connect on what's next. Koji on Jike, Koji's website

👧🏻 Host Ronghui: Previously worked at a dollar-denominated VC, spent five years as a Silicon Valley correspondent, tracking technology development and business stories. Welcome to reach out and exchange thoughts. Ronghui on Jike

🎄 This podcast is supported by The Fair's Sound Forest Podcast Initiative.