Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Engineering Profession: The Technical University Students’ Perception in the Context of Industry 4.0

Artificial intelligence is becoming an integral part of the engineering profession and the engineering education system in the era of Industry 4.0. The purpose of this study is to investigate how engineering students perceive the impact of AI on the future of the profession: the nature of work and its social status, including employment and income prospects. The study is based on the neo-Weberian approach in the sociology of professions, which views professional groups as status groups whose position in the labor market is determined by their monopoly on specialized knowledge and competencies. The empirical basis was a survey of students from technical universities in Moscow and Samara (N = 610, Bauman Moscow State Technical University, Moscow Polytechnic University, Samara University, 2024) and semi-structured expert interviews with practicing engineers and representatives of educational organizations (N = 5). The results show that students perceive AI primarily as a tool that optimizes the engineer’s work, rather than displacing it. At the same time, the social consequences of AI implementation, primarily employment prospects and wages, are significantly less optimistic. A more diverse use of AI in educational and professional activities is associated with greater optimism about professional prospects. It is concluded that the higher engineering education system needs to not only integrate AI tools into the educational process, but also to create a well-founded positive vision of the profession in the context of technology economy.

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