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As AI changes the workplace, experts say critical thinking, adaptability, and ethical reasoning could give college graduates an edge

• Critical thinking, communication, adaptability, and ethical reasoning could become even more valuable as AI takes on more routine tasks.

• Knowing how to use AI may become a basic workplace expectation, while knowing how to question and apply its output could set workers apart.

• Experts say college can help students build durable human skills that remain valuable even as technology and jobs continue to change.

Artificial intelligence is changing the way people work, but that doesnt necessarily mean a college degree is becoming less valuable. Instead, the rise of AI may be shifting which skills employers value most.

As AI tools take on more routine tasks, workers may need to bring something technology cant easily replicate: the ability to think critically, ask the right questions, solve complex problems, and make thoughtful decisions about how technology should be used.

ConsumerAffairs spoke with Andy Chan, vice president for innovation and career development at Wake Forest University, who explained that durable human skills can give students an advantage regardless of what they choose to study. In an increasingly AI-driven job market, knowing how to use technology is only part of the equation knowing when, why, and whether to use it may be even more important.

Fostering human skills

Whether youre a recent grad just entering the job market, or a seasoned expert in your field looking for a new opportunity, Chan recommends fostering human skills.

The top of his list? Critical thinking.

AI can give you answers very quickly. But it still takes a thoughtful human being to determine whether it is answering the right question, whether the answer makes sense, and what to do with it, he said.

Id add communication, relationship-building, empathy, creativity, ethical reasoning, and self-awareness. And increasingly, I think adaptability, initiative, and patience are essential. Employers want people who can figure things out, work well with others, learn quickly, and actually get things done.

While these have often been referred to as soft skills over the years, Chan thinks this has always been a terrible description.

There is nothing soft about them, he said. In an AI-enabled workplace, they may actually be the hardest and most valuable skills to develop.

Combining AI and human skills

For many college students, learning how to effectively use AI has been a big part of their college experience. But balancing that with the human skills necessary for the workforce can be challenging.

Chan advises students not to take an either/or approach.

You absolutely need to learn how to use AI. But knowing how to use AI will increasingly become a basic expectation, much like knowing how to use a search engine, a spreadsheet, or a calculator, he said.

The differentiator will be what you bring to the technology. Can you recognize a problem worth solving? Can you ask a better question than someone else? Can you tell when the AI is wrong? Can you understand another persons needs? Can you persuade people, build trust, make a difficult judgment call, or come up with an idea nobody else has considered?

Chan explained that students can hone those capabilities from reading, writing, discussing difficult ideas, working with people who are different from you, trying things, making mistakes, reflecting on what happened, and having real experiences in the world.

You can learn so much from the experience, perspective, and wisdom of elders even those just a few years older than you, he said. College is an extraordinary place to develop those abilities. Students shouldnt outsource that precious opportunity to AI.

Taking your skills to the job market

Another factor that college students should consider is that the classroom may be the best place to start honing these skills for long-term success in the job market.

The great advantage of developing these skills in college is that they are durable, Chan said. Technologies will change. Jobs will change. Some of the technical skills students are learning today will undoubtedly become obsolete just as they have before.

But the ability to learn, think, communicate, collaborate, exercise judgment, and adapt will grow within you throughout your career. The stronger your foundation built in college, the higher your potential trajectory will be.

Preparing students for their futures

Though there is a great deal of fear around AI in business, schools, and society, Chan sees it as a great opportunity to develop students into more thoughtful people.

I believe that AI is actually making a great education and particularly the kind of broad education that develops the whole person, like we aspire to provide at Wake Forest University more valuable, not less, he said. The best college education should prepare students not just for their first job, but for a lifetime of work, learning, relationships, contribution, and change.

AI is extraordinarily good at helping us with the how. But human beings still have to wrestle with the what, the why, and the should.

New research suggests recreational athletes can swap meat for plants without sacrificing strength or endurance

• Recreational runners performed similarly on plant-based and omnivore diets.

• Resistance trainers saw no statistically significant difference in strength.

• Researchers say longer studies are needed to understand the effects over time.

For people who exercise regularly, switching to a plant-based diet can raise an important question: Will cutting back on meat affect performance?

A new study from researchers at four universities suggests that, for recreational athletes, the answer may be no at least over the short term. The study found no statistically significant differences in endurance or strength when participants followed plant-based and omnivore diets for four weeks each.

The research comes as athletes and other active people navigate conflicting claims about whether plant-based diets can provide enough protein and calories to support exercise. Rather than looking at professional athletes, researchers focused on recreational college athletes who regularly used university dining halls.

Popular social media claims frequently spread misinformation that plant-based diets fail to provide enough calories or protein to meet the demands of exercise, researcher Peggy Policastro said in a news release.

The study specifically sought to test these claims by examining recreational student athletes who rely on university dining halls for most of their daily meals.

How researchers compared the diets

The study included 36 undergraduate students from Rutgers University, Stanford University, Vanderbilt University and the University of Reading in England. Sixteen participants were recreational runners, while 20 were resistance trainers. All exercised three or four times a week.

Each participant completed two four-week diet phases in randomly assigned order. During the omnivore phase, participants were asked to eat at least two servings of animal protein each day. During the plant-based phase, they replaced meat with at least two servings of plant protein, such as beans, tofu, or plant-based meat alternatives.

Participants tracked their food intake at least three days a week and were asked to maintain their usual exercise routines. Runners completed a 12-minute run, measuring how far they could travel, while resistance trainers completed three-repetition maximum tests for the chest press, lat pulldown, and leg press.

What the results mean for consumers

The runners covered an average of nearly 2,658 meters during the omnivore phase and about 2,622 meters during the plant-based phase a difference of roughly 36 meters. Resistance trainers had a combined strength measurement that was about 4% lower during the plant-based phase. Neither difference was statistically significant.

There were nutritional differences between the diets. Participants consumed about 71 grams of protein per day during the plant-based phase, compared with 103 grams during the omnivore phase.

The plant-based diet also contained more carbohydrates, fiber, iron, and calcium, while the omnivore diet contained more saturated fat, cholesterol, and vitamin B12. Reported calorie intake was similar.

This is important because it shows that everyday athletes can safely choose plant-based foods without worrying about harming their fitness or strength goals, Policastro said. These findings provide evidence-based support for colleges to comfortably expand healthy and environmentally friendly plant-based menu options for their active student populations.

However, its also important to note that the study was small and lasted only eight weeks. The researchers noted that it cannot determine how plant-based eating might affect elite athletes or performance, muscle development, and recovery over months or years.

A new experiment suggests small incentives may help college students sleep longer and perform better academically

• College students in a new study increased their sleep by about 19 minutes a night when offered small financial rewards for meeting a seven-hour sleep goal.

• Students who received the sleep intervention saw their average course performance increase by up to 0.089 grade points.

• The biggest academic benefits were seen among freshmen and in STEM courses, while students also spent less time on screens at night.

Pulling an all-nighter to study may feel like a necessary part of college life, but new research suggests that getting more sleep could be a better strategy.

A study published in the Journal of Political Economy looked at whether encouraging college students to get more sleep could also improve their academic performance. At the start of the study, participants slept an average of just 6.6 hours per night, and only 43% were getting at least seven hours on weeknights. More than 85% missed that seven-hour mark on at least one school night each week.

Researchers wanted to see whether a relatively simple intervention could help students change those habits and whether the extra sleep would translate into better grades.

How the sleep experiment worked

The researchers conducted a field experiment involving more than 1,100 university students in the U.S. Participants' sleep was tracked using Fitbit devices, while a custom smartphone app provided bedtime reminders, morning feedback, and for some students, financial incentives.

Students in the primary incentive group could receive about $4.75 per night for getting at least seven hours of sleep, with their sleep verified through the Fitbit trackers. The researchers also tested different combinations of reminders, feedback, and incentives, including immediate versus delayed rewards.

Participants completed weekly surveys covering areas including how they spent their time, stress, and mental health. They also completed tests involving creativity and quantitative problem-solving, allowing researchers to examine whether changes in sleep were accompanied by changes in other areas of students' lives.

Students slept longer and their grades went up

During the four-week intervention, the share of weeknights when students got at least seven hours of sleep increased by 26%. On average, students slept about 19 minutes longer each weeknight. Some of that improvement stuck around after the incentives ended, with students still sleeping about eight additional minutes per night.

Academic performance improved, too. Students receiving the primary intervention earned semester course grades that were 0.075 to 0.089 grade points higher on average.

The effects were concentrated among freshmen and were particularly noticeable in STEM courses and classes held around midday. Students also developed more regular sleep schedules, reduced nighttime screen use, and shifted some studying from late evening to morning without changing their overall study time.

For students trying to balance studying with everything else college demands, the findings suggest that sacrificing sleep isn't necessarily the best way to squeeze in more academic work.

Our results show that helping students sleep more and sleep better can boost academic performance just as effectively as traditional academic interventions, but at a fraction of the cost, researcher Osea Giuntella said.

Getting an independent appraisal first could put hundreds (or even thousands) in your pocket

• Knowing your car's Actual Cash Value (ACV) before visiting the dealership can keep you from accepting a lowball trade-in offer.

• Getting a quote from CarMax, Carvana, or Kelley Blue Book gives you valuable leverage when negotiating your trade.

• Negotiate your new car purchase and trade-in separately so it's easier to see where the dealership is making its profit.

Trading in your current vehicle is one of the easiest ways to lower the cost of buying a new one. It's super convenient, saves time, and lets you drive away without the hassle of selling your car yourself.

But that convenience can come at a price.

One of the smartest things you can do before walking into a dealership is find out your vehicle's Actual Cash Value (ACV), which is the amount your car is worth in today's wholesale market based on its age, mileage, condition, and local demand.

Without knowing your ACV, it's difficult to tell whether a trade-in offer is fair or whether you're leaving money on the table.

Why dealerships want your trade

Trade-ins are valuable to dealerships.

Some vehicles are resold on the dealer's used-car lot, while others are sent to auction. Either way, dealerships generally try to acquire vehicles for significantly less than what they expect to sell them for after accounting for reconditioning, transportation, and other costs.

That's why your trade-in value is an important part of the overall negotiation.

A lower trade-in offer can improve the dealership's profit on the entire deal, making it just as important as negotiating the purchase price of the new vehicle.

Get a third-party quote first

Before visiting a dealership, get an offer from at least one independent buyer.

Companies such as CarMax, Carvana, Kelley Blue Book Instant Cash Offer, and Edmunds can provide an estimate (or even a firm purchase offer) that gives you a realistic benchmark.

You don't necessarily have to sell your vehicle to one of them.

Instead, youll want to use the third-party number as leverage with the dealership.

If your dealership offers $18,000 but CarMax offers $20,500, you now have objective evidence that your vehicle is worth more.

The bottom-line: Many dealerships will increase their trade-in offer rather than lose the sale.

Five smart tips to maximize your trade-in

1. Negotiate your trade separately. Don't let the dealer roll your trade, purchase price, financing, and monthly payment into one conversation. Agree on the price of the new vehicle first, then negotiate your trade.

2. Get competing offers. Even if you plan to trade your vehicle at the dealership, having two or three written offers strengthens your negotiating position.

3. Know your ACVnot the retail price. Your trade isn't worth what similar vehicles are listed for online. Dealers generally value trades closer to wholesale prices after considering condition, mileage, and the cost of preparing the vehicle for resale.

4. Clean your car before getting appraisals. A wash, vacuum, and removing personal items won't add thousands to its value, but a clean, well-maintained vehicle can make a better impression and help avoid deductions for condition.

5. Don't reveal your trade too early. If possible, negotiate the purchase price of the new vehicle before discussing your trade. Keeping the two transactions separate makes it easier to compare offers and see where the real value is.