Whether you're thinking about AI from a personal perspective or that of a CEO, the primary overarching theme is that AI will speed up everything; literally every facet of life will experience changes in the time to achieve a desired outcome.
It's quite incredible and something that many people will struggle with. It will also exacerbate the digital divide and the available opportunities on either side of the divide.
People with access to AI and the knowledge and skills required to leverage AI will be on a fast track to new opportunities.
In parallel with the overarching theme of speeding up change, there's a theme of speeding up knowledge and skills development. This is true for you personally and for business leaders responsible for growing their businesses and rewarding their investors.
The development and adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) will significantly impact skill needs, as it will modify the task and skill composition of jobs and the distribution of occupations in the economy.
While in full-time education, young people will likely have opportunities to learn and leverage AI, and adult learning systems will need to quickly adapt to these rapid transformations. As an adult, you can't assume your company will do enough to get you through the AI learning curve. You're going to need to allocate time and self-educate.
What is the specific impact of AI on skill needs? And how can adult learning systems be better designed and implemented to meet these needs? Here are two use-case examples.
From the perspective of a 30-year-old financial analyst:
Seeing AI's development and its potential, it's become clear that technology is increasingly taking over skills like planning, comprehension, and advising, which are a significant part of many jobs. ChatGPT's proficiency in language tasks will dramatically change knowledge-workers job profiles. It underscores the rapid AI advancement, indicating that even more skills could be replicated soon. On the brighter side, this shift highlights the growing importance of new abilities, such as basic digital and data science skills and AI literacy. Understanding this, you'll need to rapidly acquire a broad skill set to effectively work with AI systems. Therefore, your ongoing professional development should include AI-related training to stay relevant in the AI era.
From the perspective of the CEO of a mid-sized manufacturing company:
AI's rapid development and adoption are transforming the skill requirements in the manufacturing industry, increasingly replacing manual and cognitive skills. ChatGPT's breakthrough in language tasks is a testament to this accelerated change. As a CEO, you must ensure your workforce can adapt, particularly as specialized AI skills become more critical. It's about equipping your existing team with digital and data science skills, fostering a broad range of abilities to interact effectively with AI. You'll need to provide training for your staff AI from basic literacy to advanced levels. Although you probably usually provide training after adopting AI, be aware of the challenges – a major one being the skills gap that can hinder AI adoption that will power your company into new opportunities.
To summarize:
- Skill Adaptation: Technology is increasingly taking over planning, comprehension, and advising skills. It is crucial to adapt your skill set to work with these AI tools and not against them.
- AI Literacy and Training: With the shift in skills demand, acquiring new skills, particularly in AI literacy, is essential. There's a pressing need for more comprehensive AI training to bridge the skills gap.
- Workforce Adaptation: The shift in skills due to AI development and adoption is significant, and ensuring the workforce can adapt to these changes is a major priority and opportunity. It's about developing new talents and equipping the existing team with the necessary skills.
"EmpowerED: Unlock Your Potential with Future Skills Studio©." This tagline encapsulates Future Skills Studio's commitment to empowering learners through experiential educational strategies and equipping them with the vital skills needed to thrive.
Contact us to discuss your AI skills development strategy.
Author: Greg Twemlow, Co-Founder, Future Skills Studio
