“People who use AI…” Perplexity CEO Aravind Srinivas urges people to stop scrolling Instagram and do this instead

Aravind Srinivas

Perplexity CEO Aravind Srinivas has a simple but important message for young people: spend less time scrolling through Instagram and more time learning artificial intelligence (AI). In a recent interview with Matthew Berman, Srinivas said mastering AI tools is quickly becoming essential for future job opportunities.

“People who are at the frontier of using AI systems are going to be way more employable than people who are not. That’s guaranteed to happen,” Srinivas said. He stressed that while social media offers entertainment, it doesn’t help when it comes to improving your career prospects.

According to Srinivas, the world of AI is moving at an incredible speed, with major changes happening every three to six months. This rapid growth, he says, is testing how fast humans can actually adapt. “The human race has never been extremely fast at adapting,” he noted, adding that people who don’t keep up could risk falling behind in the job market.

The Perplexity chief admitted that AI will likely replace some jobs, but he also believes there’s a solution. He encouraged young people to become entrepreneurs or join fast-growing AI-powered companies. “People who lose jobs will either start their own companies using AI or join new businesses that use AI tools,” Srinivas explained.

His views come at a time when many industry leaders are divided on AI’s impact on employment. Companies like Anthropic have predicted AI could eliminate half of all entry-level office jobs in the next five years. AI pioneer Geoffrey Hinton has also warned about AI replacing workers doing routine desk jobs. However, others, like Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, believe AI will create new job roles rather than simply destroy them.

For Srinivas, the takeaway is simple: learning how to use AI tools is no longer optional—it’s a must. “Stop doomscrolling on Instagram,” he said. “Spend more time using AI. It’s the best investment in your future.”