Future-Proof Your Career: 10 Essential Skills for HR and Psychologists in the AI Era

As artificial intelligence (AI) systems grows more powerful, many of us can't help but look over our shoulders, wondering if an algorithm might soon make our jobs obsolete. For psychologists, HR professionals and others in "human" fields, this possibility is particularly unnerving. How could cold, unfeeling technology ever replace the emotional intelligence, creativity and person-to-person connectedness that are so core to what we do?

The unsettling truth is that AI systems are already augmenting and encroaching on roles psychologists and HR professionals once thought were exclusively human. AI is being used in everything from psychological testing and job candidate screening to performance analysis and even management coaching. Unless we double down on cultivating the skills that make us irreplaceably human, we risk being sidelined in the era of intelligent machines. So what key skills do we need to develop to stay relevant and thrive alongside AI?

According to two recent studies, there are three sets of essential skills that psychologists, HR professionals and their teams need to develop in order to avoid being rendered obsolete by the automation and augmentation of their work by algorithms. Both studies found that our ‘social-’, and ‘decision making’ skills as well as our ‘physical abilities’ aren’t easily replicated by AI. I summerised these in the figure below, but let's take a closer look at each one.

The Social Skills AI Can't Match

At the core of what makes us human are our abilities to empathize, collaborate, and build meaningful relationships with others. While AI can analyze streams of data, it cannot feel true compassion or forge the types of deep social bonds that are required to energize teams and organizations. Further, at present, only we can intuitively understand the subtext, emotions and group dynamics within organisations. This is why the three most important social skills the two studies identified (compassion, relationship building, and collaboration) are so vital in the AI age. But what do these entail?

1. Compassion: No matter how advanced AI gets, human beings will always crave understanding, empathy and care from other humans. While AI may be able to analyze data and identify patterns related to emotions, only humans can tap into the depths of emotional intelligence by sensing the unspoken, showing warmth, creating rapport, and attuning to another's feelings and needs. In clinical settings, compassionate care is proven to improve outcomes. In the workplace, it builds trust and stronger team performance. We need to practice compassion to stay relevant!
2. Collaboration: AI is essentially a self-contained system which is unable to engage in the free-flowing exchange of meaningful ideas. But the magic of innovation happens when people from diverse backgrounds spark off each other's thoughts and perspectives. As Eubanks notes, effective collaboration doesn't just happen – it requires deliberate effort to connect people, facilitate open communication, and create shared mission and purpose. We need to learn the skills to create a culture of psychological safety in our teams/organisations where candid idea-sharing is encouraged without fear of reprisal.
3. Relationship Building: The ability to build deep, trust-based relationships is a profoundly human skill that will only become more valuable as technological change accelerates. As AI become ubiquitous colleagues, the "human" side of human resources will be critical for organizational success. HR professionals and psychologists adept at relationship building can create the social bonds, emotional attunement, and cultures of rapport that empower teams to thrive amid change. When employees feel socially connected, emotionally supported, and bound by authentic relationships, they develop resilience and creative energy that cannot be replicated by technology alone. In this era of human-AI collaboration, those with elite relationship building talents can inspire the trust, cohesion and motivation that allows individuals and teams to work in synergy with technology for maximum impact. Relationship masters will be indispensable bridges between the artificial and human elements of organizations.

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The Creative Decision-Making Skills Humans Hold

For all its computational power, AI still lacks crucial cognitive capabilities that the human mind possesses. Skills like curiosity, creativity, critical thinking, and intuition are what allow us to solve novel problems, connect disparate ideas, and generate innovative breakthroughs. As AI automates more routine tasks, these decidedly human decision-making skills will be where we can differentiate ourselves. In their respective studies, Chuang and Eubanks states that the following skills are the most important to future proof an HR professional and psychologist:

1. Creativity: It refers to the ability to transcend traditional ideas and develop innovative, imaginative solutions to complex problems. While algorithms can follow rules and find patterns, true creativity requires making novel associations that machines cannot. As Eubanks writes, "The light bulb couldn't have been invented by continuously refining the candle – it needed an entirely different perspective."? Thus, creativity, whether it's learning new subjects outside our core disciplines, engaging in artistic hobbies, or finding ways to change our physical environments will become crucial. Even simple acts like moving desks and offices can help spark new connections in our brains. Companies wanting to unleash the creative potential of their workforce should prioritize flexibility, openness to experimentation, and a culture of continuous learning.
2. Curiosity: It refers to the drive to continuously learn, grow and explore new concepts. ?Young children are endlessly curious, constantly asking "Why?" as they explore the world around them. But as we get older, that innate curiosity often gets dampened. To stay vital in the AI age, we must fight that tendency and cultivate a mindset of relentless questioning. Curiosity fuels a deeper understanding of the world and helps us to see things in fresh ways. It helps us identify underlying patterns, challenge faulty assumptions, and solve complex problems from new angles that AI cannot.
3. Critical thinking: It refers to the ability to applying logic, reasoning and critical analysis to make help make more reasoned judgments. To thrive alongside AI, we must maintain our ability to think critically, question assumptions, and apply our judgment in nuanced situations. Unlike algorithms that just processes instructions, we have the unique capacity to recognize context, see shades of grey, and adapt our thinking based on new inputs. Developing robust critical thinking skills not only helps with problem-solving and decision-making, but also learning itself.
4. Intuition: Drawing on instincts and gut feelings to guide the choices we make in high-stake situations. Intuition allows us to navigate ambiguity, process complexity on an embodied level, and factor in subtle social and emotional dynamics that are difficult to quantify. In scenarios overflowing with potential variables and unknowns - which AI's rules-based approaches can struggle with - human intuition provides a real-time guidance system that can cut through information overload to help make better decisions. Those with finely-tuned intuitive faculties can make tough judgment calls, trusted to weigh incomplete data and diverse contexts in cognitively flexible ways.
5. Problem Solving: Refers to the ability to draw on all the aforementioned factors, to analyse complex issues from different perspectives in order to determine root-causes of problems, to propose and critically evaluate potential solutions and to implement solutions to solve problems. In environments where AI handles the more standardized work, elite human problem-solvers will be needed to tackle the atypical, the ambiguous, the unprecedented. Their ability to connect disparate ideas, challenge assumptions, and generate breakthrough ideas from the yet-unknown will be an irreplaceable compliment to AI's capabilities.

Our Enduring Physical Capabilities

According to the two studies, we also have a huge advantage over AI with our sensorimotor skills and physical flexibility. These skills give us an embodied intelligence that remains extraordinarily difficult to replicate in machines. According to Chuang, the two most important physical differentiators are:

1. Physical Flexibility: It refers to our abilities to engage in a wide range of motion, and our muscle dexterity
2. Sensorimotor Skills: This refers to aspects like our hand-eye coordination, our fluid movements, ?and our ability to navigate the physical world with carefully nuanced gestures

From assembly lines to operating rooms, our combination of delicate physical control and quick decision-making allows us to excel where rigid robotics still struggle. We remain unmatched in tasks requiring environmental awareness, physical adaptability, and seamless mind-body integration.

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Bringing Human Brilliance to the Future of Work

For HR professionals and psychologists, human skills like emotional intelligence, creativity, and physical mastery have always been central to optimizing workforce performance and fostering healthy workplace cultures. But now, as AI ushers in a tectonic shift in how work gets done, doubling down on these uniquely human strengths is more essential than ever before. By purposefully cultivating capabilities like relationship building, innovative problem-solving, and resilient embodiment, those in the people business can help organizations thrive in new and unique ways.

While AI's rapid growth can seem threatening, the latest findings make clear there is an enduring - and indeed, rising - need for our unique ‘human’ skills. By making the most of the skills that make us human, those charged with maximizing people's potential can ensure we not only remain indispensable, but can help achieve new realms of thriving in the age of AI.

References:

Chuang, S. (2024). Indispensable skills for human employees in the age of robots and AI. European Journal of Training and Development, 48(1/2), 179-195.

Eubanks, B. (2022). Artificial intelligence for HR: Use AI to support and develop a successful workforce. Kogan Page Publishers.