AI and the Future of Work: Preserving Human Purpose in an Automated World

(the below was not written by AI)

Nowadays, many people discuss how AI will change the way we work, enabling us to work quicker, more efficiently, and solve more complex tasks. However, fewer people talk about how AI will change how we feel about our work.

People enjoy solving problems, finding solutions, and fixing things—these moments give us a sense of accomplishment and value, it creates our "hero moments", why we keep going to work besides obvious salary. But what happens (not if, but) when AI takes these moments away by doing tasks quicker and more reliably? Or when AI eliminates problems before they arise through smooth automation and predictive maintenance? What will happen to those who find purpose in solving these tasks? Will “upskilling with AI” help maintain this sense of purpose, or will we need to find new ways to offer it?

Already now, many companies hire talented people to support AI tools that handle the most interesting and intellectual parts of the job, while employees are left to download data, edit or amend it and upload to another systems. Even these tasks are soon to be automated by AI.

They say: "don't worry, AI will still require human monitoring and supervision", likely involving watching screens and observing AI at work. Is this the key skill of the future—“doing nothing, feeling important”?

But the question isn’t about AI. It is inevitable and already here.

The question is about people.

How do we prepare ourselves, our teams, our companies, and our society for this meaningless future?

How about we leverage AI to help people bring more of themselves to their work? How can AI equip us to be better humans (at our workplace and in our professional realisation)?

But than, how many people will be brave enough to embrace this change, and how can we support them along the way? (as for centuries it has never been a focus, but more of a luxury or luck some could afford)

What will it mean for the workforce when “just doing your job well enough” is no longer sufficient because AI handles those tasks?

I have a solution: finding your true core value proposition and putting in in the centre of ones professional development, whether in business or career. And growing, building from that.

It could make us not only more valuable at the workplace, but also more free as human beings: to follow your heart, to bring the best out of ourselves to our work/business, to have the biggest impact, to deliver more value to the organisations we work in or for. Yes, it might mean more independent professionals. Who know their worth, who choose who they work for or why they show up in the office, who build portfolio careers, search for professional realisation and fulfilment, combine corporate and business (because people will no longer be needed for 40hrs a week), etc.

And that would change the whole employer-employee relationships, the way people develop themselves as professionals, the way companies make themselves attractive to those people who could actually make the difference.

The next big question after onboarding AI skills will be "How do we design our companies to be human-first?".

I do talk about that as a speaker, as mentor, as board member. And this is my first article to distribute these thoughts to a wider audience.

Let me know in the comments, what has resonated with you and what you would like to hear more of

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely my own and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of my employer or any other organization I am associated with

Disclaimer 2: Everything I write here is straight from my own head, not written or generated by AI, but inspired by work I do, people I meet and talk, vision that I have and tech trends that I see.

#skillsofthe future #corevalueproposition #humanfirstbydesign #AI #Transformation #workplace #portfoliocareer