Riding the AI revolution

Nobody can predict the future with absolute precision, but when it comes to the impact of AI on people’s careers, the recent past provides some intriguing clues. Forbes reports that Rhonda Scharf’s book Alexa Is Stealing Your Job: The Impact of Artificial Intelligence on Your Future offers some insights and predictions that are well worth our consideration. ‘Much like the computer revolution, we need jobs to maintain the systems that have been created. This creates new, desirable jobs where humans work alongside technology. These new jobs are called the trainers, explainers and sustainers,’ Scharf said. She notes that there are going to be many jobs that AI can’t replace. ‘We need to think, evolve, interpret and relate. As smart as a chatbot can be, it will never have the same qualities as my best friend. We will need people for the intangible side of relationships.’ Scharf notes that it’s not all ‘doom and gloom’. ‘As history has shown us, these types of life-altering changes happen periodically. This is the next one. I believe the way we work is about to change, the same way it changed during the Industrial Revolution, the same way it evolved in response to automation. The way we live is about to change. (Think pasteurisation and food storage.) Those who adapt will have a better life for it, and those who refuse to adapt will suffer.’