Preparing for AI

Artificial Intelligence (AI) will fundamentally reshape our world. As we stand on the edge of a technological revolution that will fundamentally alter the way we live, work, and relate to one another, it’s crucial for children and young adults to develop skills that will keep them relevant in the future, five, ten, or even twenty years down the line. What are those skills?

Focus and Adaptability: Young people will enter a workforce where focus and adaptability are critical. As information overload intensifies, tuning out distractions to focus on productive work will be necessary. Simultaneously, remaining flexible to update strategies and skills while old jobs fade and new needs arise will be fundamental to survival. Young people need to be comfortable with change and uncertainty and be willing to learn and adapt.

Lifelong learning: As technologies shift and jobs change, the ability to learn new skills quickly and adjust to changing circumstances will be critical. Having a growth mindset, fostering curiosity, and providing access to diverse learning opportunities will necessary preparation. The ability to learn and acquire new skills throughout one’s life will be necessary. While not everyone needs to be a computer scientist, basic technical literacy will be as essential as reading and writing. Understanding how AI works and being able to use and interact with it effectively will be crucial.

Creativity: AI excels at crunching data and performing repetitive tasks, but it struggles with creativity and the creation of truly innovative approaches (although this may change in 10-20 years!). Nurturing these skills through open-ended learning, problem-solving through diverse perspectives, and exposure to the arts and humanities will prepare young people in this area.

Emotional Intelligence: Skills like resolving interpersonal conflicts, cooperating across divides, relating to those of diverse backgrounds, and simply empathizing in face-to-face ways that technology cannot match will be at a premium. As AI integrates into society, questions of ethics, bias, and human values will take center stage. Fostering social learning programs, engaging in ethical discussions, and exhibiting empathy in daily interactions will prepare young people for this challenge. Engaging in group projects, developing active listening skills, and accepting diverse viewpoints will help young people thrive in collaborative environments.

Jobs: All of the above sounds great, but the question on everyone’s mind is “Where do I get a job in all this?” For those who have the aptitude and the interest, the one general area that seems relatively safe from AI is the trades. There’s no possibility AI will be doing plumbing in the foreseeable future! When it comes to white-collar jobs, however, the answer remains very murky – there are some jobs today (HR?) utilizing the above skills, and likely new jobs will appear to facilitate integrating AI into society, but largely this is a question without an answer today.