Having been through university, I have no idea how I could "level up faster" without more years.
And I say that as someone that has carved out a career doing something as the (AFAIK) only person (well, freelancer at least) doing what I do in my country.

Maybe AI disrupts universities? Or AI disrupts skills?
Like AirBnB disrupted hotels, then enshitified to make airbnbs require more manual labour to stay at and cost more than a fucking standard hotel room.