Yes, Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning may sound very dangerous for our future jobs (thanks to the media for escalating it). Luckily, there are a significant number of jobs that require more than calculations and strict algorithms.
If you read my previous articles (no pressure), you know that there are ‘hard skills’ which can be transferred to robots and AIs, and ‘soft skills’ — here’s where people can show their creativity, empathy, and dreaming. Let’s see what we can do today to <hopefully> still have a job in 10–15 years.
- Empathy and communication: Human emotions are still too difficult to recognize as we express our feelings in different ways. Therefore, any job that requires empathy like primary care physicians, caregivers, and therapists are unlikely to be outsourced to technology any time soon.
- Critical thinking: I know that “going with our gut,” is not helpful sometimes, but in certain situations it is essential. For instance, law firms are employing AI to help identify relevant documents in legal cases, but we still need a human judge to adjudicate a decision.
- Creativity: Computer programs are good at spitting out a number of options, but they’re not necessarily good at providing quality of creative choices. We’ve probably all seen the funny lists of AI-generated recipes or even inspirational quotes. Any job that requires true creativity, such as writers, engineers, inventors, entrepreneurs, artists, etc., are probably safe for a long while based on these results.
- Strategy: In business especially, we’re beginning to see a lot of automation of marketing practices and the like. Marketing tools just follow the command while its the choice of a person to direct it. Any job that requires strategic thinking is likely to be safe, and improving your skills in that area can help robot-proof your job.
- Technological management, installation: The more familiar you are with the technology, the more valuable you will be in helping implement and maintain it. Therefore people are going to be needed to design, plan, install, manage and maintain any technology, or AI systems.
- Imagination and vision: The way AI currently works is by taking existing data and making logical inferences based on parameters we give it. Imagination and dreaming are merely not programmable skills. Activists, entrepreneurs, visionaries, thought leaders, authors, speakers and others have a distinct advantage over technology in this field, and that isn’t going to change any time soon.
In short, if you’re concerned that your job might be one day outsourced to technology, the best thing you can do right now is work on your soft skills. Work on communication, strategic thinking, problem-solving, empathy, and creativity. It might eventually save your career from being taken over by robots, and even earn you a pay rise in the near future as well.
You can find those jobs right now in Aworker DApp — decentralized platform for recruitment where you can find a dream job for yourself or your friend, spouse, acquaintance, etc. The catch here is that you have to prove the data you write about by attaching certificates or other verifying documents.
Anyone can get a reward by recommending a friend or acquaintances for open positions (they’ll be rewarded even if they won’t get a job after the interview). All your acquaintances from internships, part-time jobs, webinars, and other professional events will be able to prove your skills and achievements at work. To find out more about the project, visit this page.