Millennials: this is how AI will impact your career
People entering the job market have never faced such an uncertain future. Sure, there are still factories, malls and offices full of workers, but slowly the non-slip surfaces and carpets are shifting beneath the shiny shoes or workboots of millennial employees, and AI will play a big part in their future.
Firstly a key point. Artificial intelligence will not suddenly make millions of jobs vanish. Instead, it will take away the dull parts of some existing jobs, freeing people up to do more creative or involved tasks.
Even that other “threat” — the gig economy — simply allows us to be more flexible in our work choices. But it makes for good headlines to cast it and AI as great evils of our times. There are plenty of well-paid gigs out there, the trick is finding them and delivering to the boss to make yourself indispensable.
Basically, there is little need for young workers or students to panic, but they do need to be more considerate about education and career choices, and prepare to be flexible.
The Inevitable Rise of AI
For years now, AIs have been sniffing around the edges of the career market. Even the smart ones can only fill very limited tasks or roles. But given the speed they are getting smarter, that won’t be the situation for very long.
For example, a chatbot can save receptionists, support staff or call center workers having to deal with the hundreds of daily minor issues. The AI will handle those and only promote the serious or complex calls to people, and the messages will go to the right person. That means less wasted time for the business, and customers or consumers are happier too.
Robotic process automation with AI-embedded can learn the boring tasks that lots of office workers face, such as copying invoices over to a spreadsheet and figuring out a cost center. RPAs and so-called cognitive automation fulfill a specific business need to handle the complex but repetitive tasks that make up so many processes. Google Telecom Expense Management and look at the huge number of companies that provide software for working out business phone and mobile usage!
Be the Master of AI in your Future
In the longer term, AI will replace some roles. We’re already seeing restaurant ordering being done by app or kiosk, so there will be less need for service staff in eateries. Take that to the next level and an AI can see someone walking into shop and monitoring their purchase, like Amazon’s till-less stores.
At an airport an AI built into the luggage trolley or mobile app could guide passengers through every step of the process (expect perhaps the TSA) with only airport workers to help the lost or less-abled around. Look around any business today and you can see a few roles that are ripe for AI, and a few where people will always dominate.
For anyone who wants a more stable career, clearly avoiding roles that can be replaced totally by AI is a good move. But, in reality, there will be whole new careers for those who understand and can implement or improve AI systems. There will be roles for the smart people who can train an AI, and plenty of jobs that are just too tactile or sticky for even the most advanced robot to get involved in.
With all this in our future, thinking more about where you want to be, and what you want to do is the crucial step. Check out this WorkFusion webinar to see how AI will impact the enterprises of the future.
