Netflix Co-founder Reed Hastings Says AI Could Push Society Back Toward the Humanities

Former Netflix CEO and co-founder Reed Hastings has a less gloomy take on how the artificial intelligence revolution will reshape work, especially for people in the humanities. 

In a recent interview on the Possible podcast, Hastings argued that while AI is rapidly transforming technical fields, it may have less impact on areas rooted in emotion and human connection. “Anything that lives in the emotional realm will be impacted not as much by AI because we humans react to these things emotionally,” he said, adding that people are unlikely to prefer “robots playing basketball.” 

For years, STEM disciplines—science, technology, engineering, and mathematics—have been seen as the most reliable path to opportunity. But Hastings believes that assumption may not hold in an AI-driven world. As machines become better at structured, logic-based tasks, the relative value of technical skills could shift. In their place, human-centered abilities—like creativity, emotional intelligence, and communication—may become more important. 

“The hard skills we used to value in STEM… I think we’ll see a kind of shift in value,” he said.