AA degrees aren't very helpful for employment purposes. However, jobs in many professions require a four year degree (you mentioned a number of them). It isn't so much that this is the only way to learn something but it theoretically demonstrates to prospective employers that you have the knowledge they require. Degrees are pretty valuable particularly when you have no or little experience which covers most people right out of high school. And proper accreditation is essential for that purpose.
I would think it would be obvious that going to college without any idea what you want to do is not generally a wise choice. It may make sense to get your AA degree if you are reasonably sure you want to do something for which a degree will ultimately be helpful since an AA degree mostly involves general prerequisites that will be required for whatever four year degree you ultimately pursue.
I would also think it would be obvious that there are a number of career choices for which a degree offers little or no benefit. Some very basic research should make this easy to determine in most cases if it isn't obvious at the outset. I think college education has gotten a bad reputation in recent years but this is more because people make ill-advised decisions regarding college education than problems with colleges themselves. Going to an expensive private or out of state college is going to cost you several times more than a more local choice and often won't result in any significant advantage. Getting a degree just to get a degree with no particular career path in mind is a complete waste of money. Getting a degree at a non-accredited institution is also a complete waste of money, at least as something that is going to help you get a job. I don't have any regrets about getting my degree (Computer Science) but in retrospect I would have saved a bit of money going to my local community college for two years instead of heading straight to a University and it wouldn't have affected my employment prospects at all.