AU Thought Leader Jennifer L. Steele on Data, Decision Making, and the Future of Work.Artificial intelligence is reshaping how we work, hire, invest, learn, and lead. But the real question is not what AI can do. It is whether we are prepared to think clearly in an age of constant disruption.
Dr. Jennifer Steele is on a mission to help people make better decisions through data. A former stockbroker and K–12 teacher turned professor, policy researcher, and AI thought leader, she brings an uncommon lens to one of the defining challenges of our time: how humans adapt when technology accelerates faster than institutions.
In 2027, she will publish Think Like a Scientist with Bloomsbury, a book that applies scientific decision-making to eight of life’s most important choices, from medical care to investing to career paths. At American University’s School of Education, and as an affiliate in the Department of Public Administration and Policy, her current research examines how AI is reshaping jobs: which skills are being automated, which are being augmented, and what that means for the future of work.
We recently sat down with Jennifer Steele to talk about her path from classroom to research, what AI really means for the future of work, and how education can help people build resilience in a rapidly changing world.
How has your personal journey influenced your work?
My journey has been influenced through teaching and mentoring that guided me from the classroom to research, helping me build a path I barely knew existed. I apply that philosophy to my work at AU. Because we foster a teaching culture within a research university, we help students find their path in times of change by asking questions, listening, and mentoring. As professors, we know our fields, but that insight is not one-size-fits all. We look at the whole student to help them successfully navigate their way into the future.
Why is your work critical to society?
There is a lot of discussion about what jobs will be enhanced by AI and which will go away. I am identifying which AI prediction methods are most reliable by mapping usage data from Claude and ChatGPT to Labor Department job tasks. We can then provide clearer signals to students and educators about the skills required for future jobs. While AI is valuable, it will be difficult to automate intrinsic human advantages in relationships and complex problem-solving. By understanding how the use of AI is evolving, I want to help people adapt to the future of work.
How is your work unique?
I have an unusually broad background: my training spans economics, psychology, and the humanities. These perspectives help me think and communicate about policy change with many different audiences. For instance, my work with AI is not about refining business strategy or helping teachers circumvent student cheating. It focuses on how teachers, students, parents, and policymakers prepare for a world with this incredible capability in a way that empowers people rather than leaving people behind.
How do you ensure societal impact?
Making research accessible is perhaps as important as establishing its validity. In education, teachers and parents are invested in what is best for kids, so we must make this information accessible. As a researcher, I have spent a lot of time co-editing scholarly journals and vetting new research, which is a key part of the scientific process. But nowadays I also I try to use broader channels—op-eds, briefs, and my book—to expand access.
What’s a common misconception about your area of expertise?
Some believe the purpose of education is to identify inborn talent and help it thrive. I believe in building capacity. Our educational systems should help us identify and hone our unique talents. My goal is to help every young person grow into the person they want to become.
Additionally, a modern education should help people cultivate problem-solving and emotional resilience skills, not just convey foundational knowledge. Success in the age of AI is to know how to adapt when your current skills are no longer required, and how to navigate unfamiliar terrain, including working with people who think differently from you. Resilience is key to all of this.
What trends will help shape your field?
Historically, higher education has served as a reservoir of cultural knowledge, a place where knowledge is grown, refined, renewed, and disseminated. That system is under enormous pressure. Things we have been taught are being delegated to machines. Some are skeptical of higher education and the ideas it purveys.
Those two forces are creating pressure as AI impacts the economy. Higher education will need to morph into something that is focused on growing humans to fulfill potential, to be adaptive and wise. We need to help students consider their career, goals, and purpose. Educators can’t solely be purveyors of knowledge; we must mentor in a deeper way. If our current system doesn’t give students what they need, how do we pivot to help them successfully adapt to the future?
Why has AU been an ideal place to conduct your research?
Interdisciplinary approaches are part of AU’s fabric. My own work is grounded in the School of Education, where we focus on equity and human empowerment, but it benefits from my affiliation with the School of Public Affairs, where I interact with policy researchers in many fields. My research has also benefitted from collaborations with the Kogod School of Business as they reimagine business education in the age of AI. AU students can easily engage with faculty from across the university, not just in their silo of focus. This makes AU special.
As a researcher and professor, how is your impact broadened by honoring both parts of your job?
AU is committed to what we call “the scholar-teacher ideal”: teaching feeds research, and vice versa. My students are thinking about how to make an impact in the education policy world. That means developing scientific analysis, decision-making, leadership, and even time-management skills. Helping them do that informs my own research on how people should choose careers in the age of AI. It also makes me better at research communication—at giving people the information they need to conquer life’s overwhelming decisions.
Here’s how I think about it: if you come to AU, you will receive the tailored mentoring you need to develop top-notch analytic skills and get an edge in your career. Universities like AU are incubators of analytic and leadership talent. But what if you are a working adult with a family who can’t make time for a degree? A university’s role is also to enhance human knowledge and make that knowledge public. My book on scientific decision-making is part of that mission. It’s taking the research and statistical methods that I teach my students and distilling those ideas for a broader audience.
What legacy do you hope to leave in your field?
I would like my work to have advanced the cause of evidence-based thinking in the world, especially regarding how people find opportunity and meaning in their careers. I want people to come to AU to get a world-class experience in interdisciplinary thinking, but I want access to these experiences to be democratized. The role of the scholar is to put evidence-based ideas out in the world, to expand what is understood through high-quality research and make sure those findings are accessible to everyone. That is what I am striving for.
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