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英语学习

What AI Executives Tell Their Own Kids About the Jobs of the Future

原文：

We asked Anthropic’s Daniela Amodei and other AI luminaries about what they advise their own children on education and careers in an AI-driven world

When Daniela Amodei meets with potential customers and business partners, they sometimes toss her a sheepish question as they leave: “What should my kid study in college?”

After all, the Anthropic co-founder has a front-row seat when it comes to how AI models like Claude are transforming jobs and the economy—a topic that spooks parents everywhere. (And not just parents.)

We asked Amodei and four other leaders in AI how they think about their own children’s futures and what advice they give them. Their offspring range from 6 months to 26 years old—eons in AI terms. But the parents have one thing in common: They worry, but they aren’t freaking out. And neither are their kids.

Their remarks have been edited for clarity and length.

解释：

  • luminaries 杰出人物
  • sheepish：adj. 局促不安的，腼腆的，不好意思的
  • toss：v. 随口抛出（问题、话语）
  • toss sb. sth. 为双宾语结构，意为 “向某人抛出某物 / 某话”。
  • offspring：n. 子女，后代；幼崽，幼苗
  • eon：n. 极漫长的时间，万古；十亿年（地质年代单位）

Manny Medina
Co-founder of Paid.AI, a platform that helps companies get paid for work done by AI agents
Four children, ages 4, 9, 19 and 26

Most kids listen to their parents. They’re just not gonna do what you say right away. You plant a seed, irrigate it and don’t be a pain in the ass about it. It’s all Jedi mind tricks.

There are two areas that I think will be vibrant in the short to medium term. One is energy. The other is healthcare.

Outside of the sun, the most powerful source of energy is the atom. I’ve been telling my kids, you should really figure out how to get into nuclear. My oldest kid just got a job at TerraPower, a company founded by Bill Gates that works on applications of nuclear power. It took him a few years, but he listened to me.

One of the other shortages we’ll continue to have is healthcare, specifically around cancer. My 19-year-old decided to go into nuclear medicine, which is using nuclear isotopes to treat cancer. It’s superdangerous, but it’s very effective.

With the younger ones, I have more flexibility in seeing what’s coming out, but also a lot more stress in that I can’t see the future that far out. The part I want to make sure of is that they don’t look at AI as a threat. They should just figure out how to do something amazing.

Given how unevenly AI is developing in the world, vast amounts of people will be left behind. So helping the poor, feeble, sick, that could be an interesting path. And the environment—caring for animals, people, oceans. My 9-year-old adores animals and loves to dream about solving problems like ocean pollution. We live on this earth. The problem is not going away.

There are first principles on what makes a career: It’s something you enjoy, that you’re good at and that’s useful to someone else. Hopefully, it makes money, but the other three are the ones they should solve for.

解释：

  • a pain in the ass：粗俗口语，令人讨厌的人 / 事，烦人精，让人头疼的存在
  • vibrant: adj. 充满活力的，蓬勃发展的，兴旺的
  • Jedi mind tricks：绝地心灵控制术，出自《星球大战》，指不动声色、潜移默化影响他人的心理手段
  • outside of the sun: 除了太阳之外
  • one of the other shortages we’ll continue to have: 指未被满足的需求
  • feeble：adj. 虚弱的，衰弱的，无力的
  • but the other three are the ones they should solve for. 但前三者才是他们应当追求的核心。

Caroline Hanke
Global head of organizational growth and health at SAP, leading internal AI workforce transformation
One child, age 15

My son is a soccer player, and he obviously wants to become a professional soccer player. I asked, is this the right space to focus on? He said, I believe being a professional soccer player is future-proof because no one will want to watch AI robots on the field. So he tried to pitch me on this plan.

I truly believe agility and openness to change—people that can cope with change and adapt quickly—those will be the central skills I want my teenager to have. The technical skills relevant for today are not going to be relevant even two years from now. It really is more soft skills—critical thinking, adaptability. Also ethics—where human judgment comes into play. I would even question whether communication skills will matter so much because I think AI will get very good at that.

In terms of what he should study in college, I’d want him to stay as broad as possible. He’ll decide on his own, but if I had to choose, I’d rather it be something in the space of mathematics because logical thinking is something that will be required in any future role because of how AI works.

解释：

  • future-proof：adj. 不会过时的，能适应未来发展的，不怕被技术淘汰的
  • pitch sb. on sth.：固定短语，向某人游说、说服某人支持某个计划
  • The technical skills relevant for today 今天适用的技术技能
  • It really is … 更重要的是…
  • comes into play 起作用…

Ethan Mollick
Management professor at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School and author of “Co-Intelligence: Living and Working with AI” (Portfolio, 2024)
Two children, ages 16 and 19

We’re an AI-studying household, so it comes up in conversation. In the way of parents and kids everywhere, I don’t think my kids care about it as much as my wife and I do.

My kids are interested in broad careers like law and medicine, so I’m less worried. I think generalist jobs, where there are many different skills bundled together, are good jobs in an AI world. You’re good at some stuff, bad at some stuff. Being a doctor is not just diagnosis, you do a whole bunch of other things. You’re probably not equally good at all of them, so if AI steps in to help where you’re weaker, that’s a good thing.

In terms of figuring out AI-proof careers, if your kid wants to cut hair or be a plumber, that’s wonderful. But to bet it all, thinking you have the answers when everyone is up in the air, how can you be certain? Take an insurance policy by being broadly educated, being deeply educated, being flexible in the face of change, maybe saving money to get through the disruptions—the things you’d do in any time of uncertainty. A liberal-arts education matters more than ever.

I don’t know what the future holds for anybody. I don’t feel negative about that, but I understand why others do. And I can’t be Pollyannaish and say nothing bad will happen. But careers are long, and they change a lot. People tend to be adaptable.

解释：

  • We’re an AI-studying household 我们是…家庭；我们全家都在研究人工智能
  • in the way of 和…一样；和世界各地的孩子和家长一样…
  • there are … bundled together 集合了…
  • Pollyannaish：adj. 盲目乐观的，过分乐观的
  • up in the air：悬而未决，不确定，一头雾水
  • insurance policy：保单，这里比喻 “稳妥的保障措施”
  • liberal-arts education 人文通识教育

Jaime Teevan
Chief scientist and technical fellow, Microsoft, and trustee, Yale University
Four children, ages 17, 19 (twins) and 21

I have four boys, and the middle two are identical twins. I joke I’m running an A-B experiment with them. But no, I haven’t tried giving them two sets of advice. Mostly I bug my kids about doing things that require sustained engagement.

All of us old people are superworried about AI and, when we worry about our kids, we’re really worrying about ourselves. Kids won’t have the same challenges we have of trying to retrofit old assumptions and will start with a clean slate. That’s a benefit they bring to the table.

I tell my kids, play around, try things out. People need to know how to use a model, but not necessarily build it.

Metacognitive skills will be very important—flexibility, adaptability, experimentation, thinking critically, being able to challenge things. Developing critical-thinking skills requires friction, doing things that are hard, doing deep thinking.

For that, a traditional liberal-arts education is really important. That’s true at a macro level, at a time of extreme disruption. And it’s also interestingly true at a micro level. Think of what AI does. It used to be that communicating with a computer was deterministic: You press this button, and this thing happens. Now it’s based on natural language, providing context, expressing intent and thinking critically.

AI is amazing at generating recommendations and can have opinions, but it can’t take responsibility. That’s a human role. One of my kids is interested in accounting, another is going to law school. Those are the ultimate jobs about taking responsibility. In law, there’s a bunch of stuff that’s going to get easier with AI. But passing judgment, being accountable and responsible for decisions that impact people and society, that’s foundationally important.

解释：

  • identical twins：同卵双胞胎
  • A-B experiment：对照实验，A/B 测试（对比两组变量的实验）
  • bug sb. about sth.：口语，反复催促、唠叨某人做某事
  • sustained engagement：持续投入、长期专注
  • retrofit：v. 改造、翻新、适配（旧系统 / 旧观念）
  • retrofit old assumptions 去适配旧观念…
  • start with a clean slate：固定习语，从头开始、一张白纸、没有历史包袱
  • we’re really worring about ourselves. 其实是在为自己担忧
  • bring sth. to the table：习语，带来优势、具备价值
  • That’s a benefit they bring to the table 这是他们与生俱来的优势
  • expressing intent 表达意图
  • Those are ultimate jobs about taking responsibility. 这些职业的核心，正是承担责任。
  • accountable and responsible: Responsible 是"做事的"，Accountable 是"背锅的"（需要解释和承担后果）。

Daniela Amodei
President and co-founder, Anthropic
Two children, ages 4 and 6 months

When I think about what my kids will need as they get older, it’s human qualities: the ability to relate, to empathize and be around other humans. What’s not going to be replaceable is how you treat other people, how well you communicate with them, how kind you are.

Those are going to be of increasing importance as AI becomes more dominant in the workforce.

Fundamentally, I have a deep, hopeful belief that humans ultimately like to be around and spend time with other humans. If we don’t do that, we tend to get really unhappy.

So, if anything—and this sounds funny to say about future teenagers—I might orient my kids toward more socializing and understanding how they relate to people in their own unique way.

解释：

  • as they get older；as和when都可以用，但有区别，as强调过程，when强调时间点

14-Apr-2026

Mark Twain’s Advice on Growing Old

President Theodore Roosevelt sent a telegram of congratulations and praise, the press gave the event play in the papers, and people from around the country saluted Twain as the United States’ premier humorist and storyteller.

西奥多·罗斯福总统发来贺电表示祝贺和赞扬，各大报纸纷纷报道了此事，全国各地的人们都向吐温致敬，称他为美国首屈一指的幽默大师和故事大王。

  • give…play 固定搭配，给予报道版面；play 指媒体曝光度
  • premier 首屈一指的

But it isn’t this glittering occasion that’s remembered as much as Twain’s address to his audience that evening.

但人们铭记于心的，并非这场光彩夺目的盛典，而是吐温当晚对听众的那番致辞。

  • glittering 光彩夺目的
  • address 致辞; address to 对某人的致辞；
  • not A as much as B = 与其说铭记的是A，不如说是B（B才是重点）

He was in fine comedic form, ruminating on “the time of life when you arrive at a new and awful dignity,” and bringing bursts of laughter from the crowd.

他状态极佳，尽显喜剧大师风范，先是沉思起"人生行至崭新而庄严之境的时刻"，引得听众阵阵爆笑。

  • He was in fine comedic form,
    [ruminating on “…”], ← 伴随动作1：沉思
    and [bringing bursts of laughter from the crowd]. ← 伴随动作2：引发笑声

He pointed out that in the stories told by “garrulous old people we always find that the habits which have preserved them would have decayed us” and that “we can’t reach old age by another man’s road.”

他指出，在那些"絮叨老人"讲述的故事里，我们总能发现：那些让他们得以长寿的习惯，却会将我们摧垮；他还说，“我们无法循着他人的道路抵达高龄。”

  • garrulous 喋喋不休的

He then expounded on the habits that he practiced that might be poison to others, beginning with his sleep routine.

接着，他详细阐述了自己那些于他人或许如同毒药的习惯，首当其冲的便是他的睡眠作息。

  • expound 详细阐述

This has resulted in an unswerving regularity of irregularity. It has saved me sound, but it would injure another person.

这使得我的不规律竟成了一种坚定不移的规律。这种作息让我身体康健，于他人却可能造成伤害。

  • unswerving 坚定不移的，毫不动摇的；来自“swerve 偏离 转向”

Alcohol, he asserted, he could take or leave: “I have no rule about that. When the others drink I like to help, otherwise I remain dry, by habit and preference.”

至于酒精，他宣称自己可有可无：“我对此并无定规。别人喝时，我乐意奉陪；否则，我便滴酒不沾——出于习惯，也出于偏好。”

  • assert 宣称

His cigar smoking, to which he paid considerable attention, would appall many of today’s health-conscious crowd, old or young.

他对雪茄颇为讲究，而这在当今无论老少、注重健康的人群看来，都会令人震惊。

  • appall 使惊骇，使震惊；语气比shock更强，含“令人恐惧”之意。

  • health-conscious 注重健康的

It has always been my rule never to smoke when asleep, and never to refrain when awake.

我的规矩向来是：睡着时不抽，醒着时不戒。

  • refrain 克制，戒除；

I will grant, here, that I have stopped smoking now and then, for a few months at a time, but it was not on principle, it was only to show off; it was to pulverize those critics who said I was a slave to my habits and couldn’t break my bonds.

在此，我承认自己确实偶尔戒过烟，每次持续数月，但这并非出于原则，纯粹是为了炫耀；是为了粉碎那些批评者的言论——他们说我乃是习惯的奴隶，无法挣脱枷锁。

  • grant 承认（某事属实）；grant that…

  • at a time 每次

  • pulverize 粉碎，彻底击败，引申为“彻底驳倒、摧毁”，修辞色彩强烈

  • break one’s bonds 挣脱枷锁；文学性表达，bonds指束缚、枷锁

when we who are grown old compare ourselves favorably or unfavorably to our contemporaries – “He’s in such better shape than I am!” – we need to think of Twain’s maxim.’

当我们这些上了年纪的人，将自己与同龄人相较——无论是有利还是不利，“他的身体状况比我好太多了！”——我们都该想想吐温的那句至理名言。

  • favorably or unfavorably 有利或无利地

  • contemporary 同龄人，同辈

  • maxim 格言，比saying 更正式

He understood that aging, like life itself , is an inexplicable combination of fortune, genes, and habit, and that one man’s meat is another man’s poison.

他深知，衰老如同生命本身，乃是运气、基因与习惯三者难以言说的糅合；他也深知，于甲为甘露，于乙为砒霜。

  • inexplicable 难以言说的，难以解释的；explicable 的反义词；

  • fortune 运气，机遇

  • meat （古义）食物，滋养品；=food/sustenance，非现代“肉类”之意。

Twain’s insight is especially important in our age of social media. The doting grandfather who reads news of an 80-year-old running marathons takes a blow to his self-esteem, unaware that the oldster eating up the miles long ago lost the affection of his children. The woman who spent 40 of her 75 years working in a hospital’s neonatal ward see a contemporary on Facebook who looks 30 years younger and feels pangs of envy, forgetting that she has triumphed in life by helping to bring thousands of babies into the world.

吐温的洞见在社交媒体时代尤为重要。那位溺爱的祖父读到八旬老者跑马拉松的新闻，自尊心便受打击，却不知那个风驰电掣于赛道上的老人，早已失去了子女的温情。那位七十五岁的妇人，四十年光阴都献给了医院的新生儿病房，却在脸书上看到一位容颜仿佛年轻三十岁的同龄人，心中泛起嫉妒的刺痛，却忘了自己曾亲手迎接数千个婴儿来到人世，此乃人生真正的凯旋。

  • doting 溺爱的，宠爱的；源于动词dote(溺爱)，带轻微贬义；

  • take a blow 遭受打击

  • oldster 老人，老家伙；口语/略带贬义，与doting grandfather形成身份对照；

  • eat up 吞噬，大量消耗；此处指飞速跑完；

  • lost the affection of his children 失去了子女的温情

  • neonatal ward 新生儿病房；neonatal 新生儿的；ward指医院病房；

  • pang 一阵剧痛/刺痛；可数名词，常指情感上的突然痛苦，如pangs of guilt/remorse/envy

  • triumph 凯旋，巨大成功

his appreciation of absurd never deserted him.

他对荒诞的鉴赏力从未离他而去。

  • appreciation 鉴赏力，欣赏能力

  • desert 抛弃，离奇；动词，注意发音 /dɪˈzɜːrt/，与名词 “沙漠” /ˈdezərt/ 同形异音；

  • never deserted him 从未离他而去

His capacity for laughter, often directed at himself, buoyed him up in his old age.

他笑对人生的能力——常是自嘲——在晚年支撑着他。

  • buoy up 使浮起，支撑；buoy 航标，浮标；

Comedian Phyllis Diller made joke about aging a part of her act.

喜剧演员菲利斯·迪勒将关于衰老的笑话变成了她表演的一部分。

You know you’re old when someone compliments you on your alligator shoes, and you’re barefoot.”

“当有人夸你的鳄鱼皮鞋真好看，而你其实光着脚时——你就知道自己老了。”

  • barefoot 光脚的，赤足的；

I’m at an age when my back goes out more than I do.

“到了我这把年纪，我的背外出的次数比我还多。”

  • go out 外出；罢工，出故障；双关语核心：字面"外出"，俚语指"（身体部位）罢工、失灵"

“I have so many liver spots, I ought to come with a side of onions” were just some of her quips that poked fun at the aches and pains that come to all of us as the machinery wears down.

“我身上的老年斑多得都该配份洋葱上桌了”——这只是她众多妙语中的一例，调侃着那随身体这部机器磨损而降临于你我众人的种种酸痛与苦楚。

  • side of onions 一份洋葱（配菜）；美式餐饮表达，side 指配菜，onions 常为牛排搭配

  • quip 妙语，俏皮话；指机智简短的幽默言论；

  • poke fun at 取笑，调侃；固定短语 =make fun of， 语气更温和

  • aches and pains 酸痛与苦楚；固定搭配，泛指身体不适，尤指慢性疼痛

  • machinery 机器，机械；此处为比喻，指人体

  • wear down 磨损，损耗；动词短语，指机械因长期使用而老化

The last words were spoken with a voice quivering in emotion.

最后几句话，是以颤抖的声音、饱含情感地道出的。

  • quiver 颤抖，颤动；因情绪激动或身体虚弱而产生的细微抖动

Your invitation honors me, and pleases me because you still keep me in your remembrance, but I am seventy; seventy, and would nestle in the chimney-corner, and smoke my pipe, read my book, and take my rest, wishing you well in all affection, and that when you in your return shall arrive at pier No. 70 you may step aboard your waiting ship with a reconciled spirit, and lay your course toward the sinking sun with a contented heart.

承蒙邀请，深感荣幸；更令我欣慰的是，诸位仍将我铭记于心。然我已年届七旬；七十岁了，只想蜷于炉边角落，抽一斗烟，读一卷书，安享余生。谨祝诸位一切安好，情深意切。愿诸位返程之际，抵达七十号码头时，能以释然之心登上候命之舟，以满足之意航向落日余晖。

  • nestle 依偎，蜷伏；带温馨意象；

  • chimney-corner 炉边角落；

  • in all affection 怀着全部的深情；类似的：in all sincerity, in all honesty, in all probability, with all my heart.

  • reconciled spirit 释然之心，和解的精神状态；指与命运，衰老达成和解；

  • in your return 插入语，=在你们的返程中/人生归途上

  • pier No. 70 七十号码头；隐喻人生第70个年头

  • waiting ship 候命之舟，隐喻死亡或来世，等待接载的船只；

  • contented heart 满足之心；contented强调知足常乐，非短暂快乐

for reader wondering about that pipe, Twain enjoyed corncob pipes as much as his cigars, but what strikes us here is Twain’s vision of peace — nestling in the chimney-corner and finding rest, a spirit of reconciliation, and “a contented heart.”

对于好奇那根烟斗的读者，吐温对玉米芯烟斗的喜爱丝毫不亚于雪茄；但此处真正打动我们的，是吐温所描绘的那份宁静——蜷于炉边，寻得安息，心怀释然，“心满意足”。

  • corncob pipe 玉米芯烟斗；美国乡村传统烟具；

most of us today don’t anticipate sitting by a hearth, but we may well find that all of those anxieties that plagued us in the past — the school exams, the children we fretted over, the problems at work — are now diminished in stature, as if seen through the wrong end of a telescope.

如今，我们大多数人或许不再期盼围炉而坐，但或许终会发现，昔日困扰我们的种种焦虑——学业考试、牵肠挂肚的子女、职场纷争——此刻皆已渺小如豆，仿佛透过望远镜的倒端望去。

  • hearth 壁炉，炉边；=fireplace

  • plague 困扰，折磨；动词，原指瘟疫侵袭，引申为持续不断的烦扰；

  • fret over 为…焦虑不安

  • diminish in stature 缩小，降低重要性；stature原指身高/地位，此处指问题在心中的分量

  • the wrong end of a telescope 望远镜的倒端；经典隐喻，倒看时物体显得微小，喻时间距离带来的perspective变化

Here, the difference between being a parent and a grandparent provide a nice analogy.

此处，为人父母与为人祖辈之间的差异，提供了一个贴切的类比。

  • analogy 类比，比拟

Perhaps that change of perspective is where the fable wisdom of old age lies, in the realization that only a few things in life really and truly count for much.

或许，这种视角的转换正是老年智慧的寓言之所在——在于领悟：人生在世，真正紧要者寥寥无几。

  • fable wisdom 寓言智慧，如寓言般的智慧；fable指寓言故事，强调智慧的简洁、普世和传承。

The years behind us now seem like fires that slowly burned away the extraneous, the overrated importance of power and money and most of the daily news, and the burdens of useless doubts and fears.

逝去的岁月，如今看来，恍若文火徐燃，渐渐焚尽浮华——权势与金钱的虚妄尊荣，芸芸众声的日常琐闻，以及那些无益的疑虑与忧惧。

  • extraneous 浮华的，无关紧要的；形容词，来源于拉丁语extra，非本至的，附加的

Left behind are the purified truths of what really matters, such as love and honor and friendship.

余留下来的，乃是经火淬炼后的本真——那些真正要紧的，诸如爱、荣耀与友谊。

  • left behind 余留下来的，遗存的

Twain’s “sinking sun” will eventually fade into darkness. Meanwhile, however, for those able to apprehend that gathering dusk, it gives a lovely light.

吐温笔下那"西沉的落日"，终将隐入黑暗。然而与此同时，对于那些能够领悟暮色四合之人，它却洒下 lovely 的光。

  • apprehend 领悟，感知；正式用语，=understand/perceive, 强调主动把握

  • gathering dusk 暮色四合；dusk 黄昏，复合意象。

  • sinking sun --> gathering dusk 落日–>暮色；时间在推进。

12-Apr-2026