Relentless advancement to produce new gen of 
seppos
I asked Wendy if I could read the paper she turned in, and when I opened the document, I was surprised to see the topic: critical pedagogy, the philosophy of education pioneered by Paulo Freire. The philosophy examines the influence of social and political forces on learning and classroom dynamics. Her opening line: “To what extent is schooling hindering students’ cognitive ability to think critically?” Later, I asked Wendy if she recognized the irony in using AI to write not just a paper on critical pedagogy but one that argues learning is what “makes us truly human.” She wasn’t sure what to make of the question. “I use AI a lot. Like, every day,” she said. “And I do believe it could take away that critical-thinking part. But it’s just — now that we rely on it, we can’t really imagine living without it.”
but that implies work requires a lot of thought, it really doesn't majority of the time, just being accepted and shown the ropes.
that really depends on the job.
where a credential opens a door to a role in an organization requiring a balanced skillset and competency--as in say public/civil service--someone who cannot think through a problem and develop/implement a solution is going to be recognized as a "bad fit" among stakeholders and colleagues.
but yeah, if you're just pushing emails and being a monkey for some loser petite bourgeois heir, then nothing really matters anyway because they will cut you lose to save a buck when they get caught by their uncle buying coke with petty cash. so, by all means, don't waste any energy on personal edification when you can waste it on appearing to personally edify for what is certain to be a very enriching and totally not alienating future.
there are still actual jobs doing actual work that requires one to actually think using the context of their training, formal education and experience to deploy resources in a way that helps people. these roles are real and necessary and the lack of recognition for them in the US, by and large, is not some honest understanding of the deeper material reality. it is a cynical normalization of capitalist ideology, and the more young people with opportunities to learn buy into the frame, the more any potential collaborative future is cannibalized by The Ever Expanding Grift Maelstrom of now.
Most people in civil service jobs are already like this. Have you ever tried to get a building permit? The whole process is slap dash and bullshit in almost every jurisdiction. Because of this almost every contractor has a guy they pay to expedite permits. The process of that in every jurisdiction is that the guy who expedites your permits is the guy friends with everyone in the permit department. It's thinly veiled corruption.
The reality is that you're describing an era that's already flew by. Austerity, capitalist computerization, and political issues have hollowed out civil service in the US completely. Our federal revenue service, the thing that is a profit center for the whole government cannot for the life of it create a standard accessible digitized way to collect taxes without spending boatloads of money on contractors who make a half working system and suck maintenance fees out of it.
This is the same in other western countries as well.