Dear Editor:

Bryan County has been deliberately building a bridge between classrooms and employers. This year’s Industry Day brought more than 300 eighth-graders into 12 local workplaces, giving students firsthand exposure to manufacturing, health care, finance, logistics, and infrastructure careers.

An updated Stanford University analysis found employment among workers ages 22 to 25 in AI-exposed occupations now 19% below where it would be had it kept pace with less-exposed peers, and the gap has widened steadily. For Bryan County, that threatens the bridge between career education and the first jobs where young people actually become skilled workers.

Local employers should not automate away that first rung. They should redesign it. Let new workers use AI to draft, analyze, and research, but make them responsible for checking accuracy, spotting edge cases, documenting uncertainty, and escalating consequential decisions.

Bryan County already shows students how real work happens. Now its employers should ensure the first jobs those students enter still teach them how to exercise judgment.

Gleb Tsipursky Columbus, OH

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