Understanding and shaping AI: How the Career Service supports students starting their careers

Artificial intelligence is changing many areas of the working world. For students and young professionals, it is therefore important to understand the technology, critically examine it, and engage with its use in a reflective way. In this interview, Dirk Erfurth from the Career Service explains which skills are important in this context and how programs such as the AI Academy can support students.

Mr. Erfurth, fear of AI is a topic that comes up time and again in today’s society. How do you view this?

Dirk Erfurth: I don’t think fear is quite the right word. Fear of what? Of change? Change has always existed in the past, and changes can also create opportunities.

What people may often mean when they talk about fear is rather that they do not yet feel sufficiently equipped to deal with these changes. During their studies and throughout life, people have acquired skills, knowledge, and competencies that may no longer be entirely sufficient in light of these changes — and that can be frightening. The key question, therefore, is: How do I deal with this? How can I respond to such changes in a way that allows me to perceive them as possibilities and new opportunities?

To do that, I first need to understand exactly what kind of changes we are talking about and how I can help shape them, so that they are not experienced as a threat.

What does this mean in concrete terms for students and young professionals?

Dirk Erfurth: AI is often portrayed as a miracle cure or a kind of magic box. Before I use this tool, I need to understand how it actually works. It works particularly well when I have very good, valid data. In principle, that means I need to know a lot about data quality, about how this tool is applied, and about how I should use it.

I can be smarter than AI by consciously reflecting on this tool — before I even start using it — and thinking carefully about what I actually want to find out. This includes critical thinking: systematically questioning results and carefully cross-checking them.

A simple example would be to try out the same prompt in several AI applications and see how the results differ. Or even one step earlier: becoming aware of what actually makes a good prompt, what makes a very good prompt, and where the differences lie. Above all, one should always ask whether it makes sense and whether the result is plausible. We should not simply accept the result blindly.

Is critical thinking alone enough, or are other skills needed as well?

Dirk Erfurth: Critical thinking is central, but it is not enough on its own. Regardless of that, depending on your subject, you need a very solid — ideally excellent — foundation of specialist knowledge. Beyond that, you have the opportunity to develop relevant skills in a targeted way, for example through programs such as the AI Academy in the Career Service, or by using AI to continue learning independently.

What is crucial here is continuous, reflective engagement — in other words, the willingness to keep developing through self-directed learning and to critically reflect on your own learning processes.

How can students acquire these skills in practice?

Dirk Erfurth: It is important that I do not simply look for just any part-time job or any internship. If I have the opportunity to spend three or six months gaining practical experience outside my regular study program — in a company, a start-up, or an organization — then ideally I should look very specifically for projects or tasks that deal with change.

Don’t be afraid; take the bull by the horns and say: I want to be part of a project that involves introducing an AI application in a department. I want to learn how it is used, I want to understand why it is used, and what added value it creates.

Fundamentally, this is also about students and graduates being able to communicate to employers — and recognize for themselves — where they can make a positive contribution. That is something they should try out during their time at university, and do so in a very systematic and carefully considered way.

How does the Career Service support them in this?

Dirk Erfurth: One of the central tasks of our Career Service is to connect students with professionals from the world of work so that students can access experiential knowledge. It is not just about book knowledge or files stored somewhere, but about the knowledge people have gained through experience.

That is precisely something ChatGPT and other applications cannot do. AI contains a great deal of knowledge based on existing data. But what about all the things that are not yet inside an AI system, but are instead in people’s heads? That is why it is essential not only to understand the tool, but also to understand how others are using it.

The first AI workshops offered by the Career Service have already taken place. How did they go?

Dirk Erfurth: We had around 25 people from all LMU faculties at our first workshop. What is special about the AI Academy is that we run it in cooperation with corporate partners. The aim is for students to gain insights from professional business cases — not only into “What can AI do, what can’t it do, or what can’t it do yet?”, but also into “How is it used?”

It was a wonderful mix of an introductory talk by a company and subsequent group work. There were small groups in which the students worked on cases, and then presented their results.

Afterwards, the company invited the participants to pizza at the university. Networking is extremely important in giving students and young professionals the chance to build networks within organizations. These contacts can convey a great deal of knowledge that AI simply does not contain.

What would you particularly like students to take away with them when it comes to AI and starting their careers?

Dirk Erfurth: I should not be afraid of it, but should understand how I can use AI for myself. And I should not simply use AI passively, but actively — with all its strengths and weaknesses.

Are you interested in artificial intelligence and want to understand how AI can influence your studies and future career? At the Career Service’s AI Academy, you can learn what AI agents really are, how to develop them, and how to use them effectively. Open to students from all disciplines.

More information is available on the Career Service website