Just because you surround yourself with the uneducated doesn’t mean everyone is. I’m in law school and some of the people here are truly brilliant, and yes they read. We all do, for hours, every single day. AI is there, I’m sure some use it. But the professors know about it as well and have pivoted. Lockdown browsers and handwritten exams are more common, and there are less take home exams than there were a few years ago. this whole “I never went to college, so it must be useless” trope is annoying. Education is important, and “does it get you a job?” Should not be the benchmark for an education. Frankly we as a society would be way better off if we had a more educated populace. We need people who are critical thinkers, because critical thinking promotes intellectual independence. If you don’t have the skills to challenge authority with clarity, logic, and reasoning, you will be at the mercy of people who WILL tell you what to think. Studying subjects like History or Sociology teaches you how people think and why they might act differently, and allows you to approach problems from a broader understanding of the human condition. Also a Chess or Go tournament will show recruiters how good an applicant is as Chess or Go. It won’t tell them anything else.