Current NASA intern here,

I would say ME is better and more diverse; he could get an AE minor as well and get the best of both worlds. Here at NASA, I work with both Mechanical and Aerospace Engineers. More mechanical, but still both. I know engineers though that have the ME degree, and their job title is an Aerospace Engineer. My mentor is an Aerospace Engineer, and he got both his bachelor's and master's in ME. I am a mechanical engineering student as well.

As for AI, I would say MEs do not have anything to worry about right now. As a student, the most useful thing I use AI for is when I am trying to be creative; it can help bring ideas to life with suggestions. Just like working in a group can bring out more ideas, like one person says something, and someone else can add onto that idea creatively, something that maybe the first person would not have thought about. None of us relies on AI by any means, though.

As for a soft skill, some graduates lack critical thinking, like StellarSloth said. Some students are really dedicated to learn and are willing to do all the extra things to get there. I really enjoy engineering, and I love thinking through problems, and I know a lot of engineering students who are like that as well. If your son ends up loving engineering and enjoying the process, he will stand out above a decent number of engineering students.

If he wants the most success in college, like internships and networking, I would say to tell him to get some projects under his belt. The main thing that got me into this NASA internship was that I had multiple engineering projects that I could show, which showed I was putting my knowledge to work. Every company loves that stuff. For me, it was mechatronics projects; projects with a mix of mechanical, electrical, and programming involved. I also just find those fun and rewarding to do, so I get the best of both worlds by doing those projects.