Meet the AI Generation: Stony Brook Students Are Ready for What’s Next

Artificial intelligence may be transforming the workplace at an increasingly rapid pace, but at Stony Brook University, students are being taught how to work with AI rather than fear it.

AI has become part of daily conversation in virtually all aspects of everyday life, and Stony Brook is no exception. From classrooms and research labs to internships and career coaching sessions, students are using it to practice interviews, analyze job descriptions, refine resumes and explore industries. Faculty and career advisors are teaching them not just how to use the technology, but how to think critically about it and how they can stand out when AI-generated work is becoming increasingly common.

The message to students is that while technical skills matter, the human side of education is more important than ever.

"We teach our students not just what they learn in the classroom, but how to engage with each other, how to build up resilience, how to have confidence in themselves, and how to be visionary, innovative and creative," said Stony Brook University President Andrea Goldsmith during a recent panel discussion with Long Island college presidents. "That is the value of a college degree, whether you major in music or philosophy or engineering or science."

For Tara Truhan, senior associate director of career development in the Career Center, conversations with students have shifted dramatically over the last two years. While they still come in asking about resumes and interviews and worry about internships and job offers and whether they are qualified enough, now there are also questions about AI, including whether employers expect them to know it, whether it will replace jobs and whether using it during the application process is cheating or simply adapting.

"The Spring 2026 job outlook, the most recent report from NACE (National Association of Colleges and Employers), just came out," Truhan said. "It shows that more than a third of entry-level jobs require AI skills, which is an increase from the previous year."

But she clarified that employers are not simply looking for AI experts. "What's really important is they need to also have the durable soft skills that allow them to use AI ethically and responsibly," she said. "Do they have good critical thinking and judgment about how they're evaluating the AI output? They need to be able to work on teams, they need to problem solve, they need to communicate really well. Those human skills are still incredibly important."

Students are already experimenting with AI-powered career tools while working with the Career Center. Through a partnership with Quinncia, an interactive artificial intelligence-based platform which helps students to build a strong resume and to excel at interviewing, students can practice interviews, improve resumes, build LinkedIn profiles and receive AI-generated feedback. Yet Truhan is careful about how she frames AI use to students, and does not want them outsourcing their voice.

"If everybody's putting in the same prompts for their resume, their cover letter, it's all going to produce the same output and then there's not going to be any individuality," she said. Instead, she encourages students to use AI as what she calls a "thought partner" to brainstorm, identify keywords in a job description and help organize ideas. Do not let it tell your story for you.

"At the end of the day, we want to make sure that regardless of whatever prompts they're using and what output they're getting, they're making it a story for themselves," Truhan said. "It's their branding tool."

Abigail Horn '26, a health science major concentrating in healthcare management, recently accepted a talent acquisition assistant role with Stony Brook Medicine. Horn has spent the past two years as a peer career coach intern in the Career Center, helping other students prepare for interviews and applications. AI, she said, has become one more tool in the process.

"After reviewing key interviewing strategies in my coaching appointments and going over common questions, I would have the student copy and paste the job application into AI and prompt it to create interview questions, one at a time, based on this description," Horn said, adding that this approach allows students to practice responding to unfamiliar questions instead of memorizing answers to possible questions.

For Horn, the bigger lesson at Stony Brook comes from stepping outside her comfort zone. "This experience has truly been the highlight of my undergraduate education," she said of her internship in the Career Center. "I was able to gain confidence in my public speaking skills, interview preparation skills, strong resume and cover letter building, networking strategies and leadership."

Business management major James McGarrity '26 sees AI as preparation for the realities of current jobs. McGarrity, who will begin working as a corporate financial analyst at Northwell Health immediately following graduation, has used AI to organize information, practice interview simulations and prepare for technical evaluations; he used AI in his Northwell interview to practice sample Excel evaluations that he was tested on.

McGarrity credits several people at Stony Brook with helping him land his first job, including his professors (especially Professor Michael Nugent and his Financial Analysis with Excel course), mentors and his internship experience at the Career Center. "Networking is also a great skill to have because you never know when a position or interview could fall into your lap," McGarrity said.

Biology major Emily Huang '25 now works in quality assurance at Eli Lilly after completing two internships there through INROADS, a non-profit organization that helps create pathways to careers for students across the country, and makes connections with INROADS alumni, peer interns and their corporate partners. Huang connected with INROADS through the Career Center.

Huang describes a similar balance between AI and soft skills at Eli Lilly, where AI is already being used to assist with data analysis and workflow tasks. "If I want to find a trend of how many batches we've made in one month compared to others, I can sort that data into AI and get those averages," she said.

But the skills employers cared most about during interviews were much more personal. "Resumés and interviews set the tone for who you are to employers," Huang said. "They are looking for individuals who are problem-solvers, curious and driven to improve in their skills."

Across higher education, conversations revolve around how to balance the challenges of AI, described by SUNY Chancellor John B. King, Jr. as one of the defining challenges facing universities.

"We've got to make sure that students have a basic understanding of what AI is, how it operates, and how it is emerging as a tool in our society," King said during a fireside chat with President Andrea Goldsmith, the first event during Goldsmith's inauguration week.

Beginning in fall 2026, SUNY students will receive exposure to AI through updated information literacy requirements. But King emphasized that the challenge extends far beyond technology. "What does it mean to live a fulfilling, rich life in a world of AI?" he asked. "That to me is about the broader Gen Ed curriculum. That to me is about philosophical questions. What does a good life look like?"

Goldsmith echoed that sentiment, arguing that universities have an opportunity to prepare students not just for jobs, but for a future where adaptability and human connection will matter even more. "We need our students to be intellectually rich," Goldsmith said. "They need to develop the truly human attributes that AI will never have: creativity, vision and collaboration instincts."

That balance between technological fluency and foundational knowledge is something Lav Varshney, inaugural director of the AI Innovation Institute, believes will become increasingly important as AI tools evolve. "If you already have built up the muscle or the wisdom, AI tools are incredible," Varshney said during a recent panel discussion on AI's impact on work and learning.

At Stony Brook, students conduct research alongside faculty, mentor peers and participate in internships. They join clubs, attend networking events and connect with alumni through programs like the Career Center's Mentor Connect.

Truhan believes those experiences are often what separates students who successfully launch careers from those who struggle. "The students who are gaining experience throughout their time at Stony Brook, those are experiences that help ground them," she said. "They then have the story to tell when they're in the search for their first destination."

Despite the anxiety surrounding AI, Truhan said many of the fundamentals of career success remain unchanged. Students still need to know themselves and build relationships. They still need to communicate clearly and present themselves authentically.

"You have to be more than just a resume in a system or a pile on a desk," Truhan said. "Your network is more important now than ever."

- Beth Squire