Having viewed a range of media recently (stemming from N.Z. and other countries) which addresses the likely impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI) on mankind’s opportunity to be gainfully employed, and from hearing first-hand accounts of how various industries are choosing to intensify their investment in mechanical and AI infrastructure, it seems to me that going forward the main employment opportunities that will be available for people to perform will be:
Area 1 – Science and Invention. New discovery and innovation will remain one of the key drivers of business success, the extent to which new discovery/ innovation is unique and is aligned to validated customer needs. “Knowledge” will increasingly become the most valuable commodity in the human world.
Area 2 – Teaching/ Consulting. Person-to-person (i.e. as opposed to AI robotic teachers) teaching delivery will continue to be a key method of imparting knowledge in order to increase skills/ knowledge/ capability in other people. Why ? The strongest connections between people and the most enduring human relationships are those made face-to-face. Teaching of the importance of humanities across all academic disciplines is likely to intensify, in order to educate/ train people how to form and nurture positive constructive relationships – not just in our working lives but in our personal lives also. People will remain the most valuable resource in any organisation; PROVIDING that the skills and strengths of individuals are shared/ combined through open collaborative relationships. Anticipated teaching focuses that will continue to be delivered by a human being going forward: socialisation, functional relationships (collaboration), leadership, management (financial, production, people), strategic thinking, risk assessment, marketing, sciences, mathematics, communication – including ICT, life skills – including food preparation, sewing, woodwork, etc.
Area 3 – Design and Engineering – both mechanical and software/ hardware related. Design and engineering will continue to be down-stream functions which stem directly from scientific discovery and invention, and are needed in order to operationalise invention.
Area 4 – Computer Operation. People who once performed manual operations to execute a task, will increasingly be trained to perform computer operations that achieve the same task through the use of AI/ mechanical infrastructure.
Area 5 – Maintenance and Services. Including: machinery, software systems, hardware devices, health – people and animals, care – people (*) and animals, property, vehicles.
Area 6 – Production and Processing of Primary Products – those aspects that can’t be readily/ efficiently performed through the use of AI (**).
Area 7 – Strategic Thinking & Planning. This is related to invention and innovation. Increasingly, people who have the ability to think strategically (to discover new opportunities/ change and set direction/ invent new products/ services) will be among the most valuable people to have in any organisation. These people are “game changers”, and have the capability of opening-up whole new worlds of opportunity for organisations.
(*) – as the world’s people population is increasingly living longer, there is a growing need for older people to receive in-home care; more than anything simply to help older people feel connected/ valued (and not forgotten) in society. The care delivered could be in relation to the physical needs of older people as aging bodies and/ or physical disabilities impose physical restrictions on older people; yet could equally be in respect of their emotional/ social/ mental needs.
(**) – interestingly enough, the quest of some legislators around the world to protect the interests of “vulnerable people” by successively increasing the level of the minimum wage and introducing employment law provisions that make it increasingly difficult for employers to manage the activities of employees without fear of invoking personal grievance claims, is influencing business owners in the primary industries sectors to invest more in AI and improved mechanical infrastructure – to minimise/ avoid employee-related issues. Implications: overall reduced manual labour workforce in the primary sectors.