Sagar

Impact of AI and Automation

Jun 25 2019

One of the top questions asked at job interviews and during a performance reviews is, "Where do you see yourself in 5 years?" But today, a bigger question is "What jobs will still exist in 5 to 10 years?" How can you know where you want to go if you don't know what will exist?

As artificial intelligence and automation threaten to substitute many of the job functions that have been performed by humans -- from retail store checkout representatives to sales consultants to taxi or Uber drivers to application developers -- many of us are looking for where we will fit into the new economy. What skills will keep us employed and paid in a future that's dominated by AI and automation?

"What do the headlines say? It's the end of work as we know it. Our jobs are going away. Robots are coming to steal our jobs," Experts said during the various AI and automation based session. "Our research suggests that the story is much more nuanced. We are rapidly moving into an interoperable world where humans and machines are coming together. Its parts of jobs. It's certain tasks. Rather than the great job replacement.

The workforce itself is changing, too, and maybe not how you might expect. They are not retiring at nearly the anticipated rate as the economy has picked up. They are looking to work on a reduced schedule and to continue to give back. While there's been an explosion of depending work, that's not necessarily what people want to do full time.

"People are doing side jobs, but not necessarily wanting to work in the gig economy full time." New jobs will be created as we move into this new economy. Consider all the jobs that didn't exist just 15 years ago -- social media manager, data scientist, podcast producer, mobile web developer, experience designers, AI-related jobs, cloud architect, SEO analyst, and more. Net new roles today include digital strategist, agile portfolio manager, cloud architect, and product security manager.

Accelerating progress in AI and automation is creating opportunities for businesses, the economy, and society

Everyone is little bit familiar with AI and automation nowadays, but recent technological progress is pushing the boundary of what machines can do. Our research suggests that society needs these developments to provide value for businesses, life, and economy and contribute to economic growth, and make once unimaginable progress on some of our most difficult societal challenges.

To get ready for that new employment market, we all need to change how we think about the future of work. Experts suggested the following framework of three areas of focus as we consider the changes to come:

What is the nature of work?
How is it changing to achieve new business goals?
What new skills will be required, and
What new capabilities will be needed given the arrival of automation and augmentation?
Who can perform the work as it changes, and how will organizations close the skills gap?
Will they tap into alternative talent pools?
Will they "upskill"?
Where will the workplace be?
Where must the work get done geographically?
How can organizations maximize collaboration, productivity, and consistency with physical design and technologies?

For instance, Salesforce.com has expanded its major operations beyond its headquarters in San Francisco to Indianapolis and to Dallas.

Workers will need different skills to thrive in the workplace of the future

In this new era of work, human skills will become more important, according to Experts. They include creativity, emotional intelligence, curiosity, imagination,, empathy and social intelligence. Traditional talent strategies won't work in the future job market.

"You can't hire your way into the future."

Instead, organizations need to make investments to train their workers in new skills. Then, hire only after you've found true gaps in skills and capabilities within your current workforce. "Create an environment that inspires passion in your workforce," he said. "With passion, it's easier to reskill, upskill, and out skill."