This summer's interns may be helping to kill summer internships

This summer's interns may be contributing to the demise of summer internships. At Eightfold AI, Jasreen Toor spent her time building and monitoring a Claude agent that generated first drafts of marketing materials. AI became the focal point of her work, rather than a mere shortcut. Recent college graduates face a 5.7% unemployment rate, nearly double the 2.9% for all college graduates.

Despite this, the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) predicted a 4% year-over-year increase in internships. This summer's interns have become a testing ground for how AI will reshape entry-level work. Companies have entrusted them with more responsibility, incorporating them into creating new AI-driven workflows.

However, this shift may be fleeting, as each automated process eliminated could mean fewer tasks for next year's interns. Those who have hit the sweet spot are those working in companies that allow them to transform their roles using AI. The career ladder may be shrinking as the responsibilities placed on young workers grow. Hiring managers are increasingly prioritizing demonstrable skills over experience, leading to a classic Catch-22.

An internship involving an AI solution to a team-wide efficiency problem could become the key to landing a full-time job in a tight hiring market. Northeastern University's program exemplifies this trend, with interns not only learning to use AI but also building agents that compare and revise internal documents and data input to Salesforce, highlighting differences and eliminating the need for manual line-by-line checks.