Nascent tech, real fear: how AI anxiety is upending career ambitions

AI has convinced computer science students to shift majors and white-collar workers to change careers, while some are embracing it

Matthew Ramirez started at Western Governors University as a computer science major in 2025, drawn by the promise of a high-paying, flexible career as a programmer. But as headlines mounted about tech layoffs and AI’s potential to replace entry-level coders, he began to question whether that path would actually lead to a job.

When the 20-year-old interviewed for a datacenter technician role that June and never heard back, his doubts deepened. In December, Ramirez decided on what he thought was a safer bet: turning away from computer science entirely. He dropped his planned major to instead apply to nursing school. He comes from a family of nurses, and sees the field as more stable and harder to automate than coding.

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Why This Matters

AI has convinced computer science students to shift majors and white-collar workers to change careers, while some are embracing it

Matthew Ramirez started at Western Governors University as a computer science major in 2025, drawn by the promise of a high-paying, flexible career as a programmer. But as headlines mounted about

Coverage Snapshot

Week 8 2026 included 212 UK Politics article(s). Leading outlets for this topic included Independent, BBC, BBC Business. Across that cluster, sentiment showed a mostly neutral skew (avg score 0.01).

Key Insights

Primary keywords: computer, science, tech, career, white.
Topic focus: UK Politics coverage with neutral sentiment.
Source context: reported by Guardian Business.
Published: 2026-02-20.
Published by Guardian Business, a widely cited major outlet.
Date context: published during Week 8 2026, when UK Politics dominated weekly headlines.

Tone & Sentiment

The article tone is classified as neutral, driven by the language and emphasis in the summary. The sentiment score of -0.01 indicates the strength of that tone.

Context

This piece fits within the broader UK Politics narrative, connecting current events to ongoing developments. Readers tracking UK Politics trends can use this article as a concise signal of what is shaping coverage right now.

Related Topics

UK Politics

Key Takeaway

In short, this article underscores key movement in UK Politics and explains why it matters now.

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Guardian Business Nascent tech, real fear: how AI anxiety is upending career ambitions