Artificial intelligence will change the world, but what do young people need to study now to make sure they can still thrive in the future?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s increasingly accepted that we are living through the early days of an AI revolution \u2013 you might have used it today without knowing it, say for directions on Google Maps. But it\u2019s marching forward in other ways too; every few months it seems like the technology has advanced years in its ability to generate text, images, videos, realistic human voices and more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Scientists and industry leaders on the vanguard are concerned. The approaching technological shift<\/a> is coming to be described in terms almost akin to the nuclear weaponry showcased in Oppenheimer<\/a> \u2013 with similar open letters from experts warning it could pose an existential threat to humanity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Those concerns may be valid (though others suggest they\u2019re being overblown as an attempt to give rival companies time to catch up with their own technology). However, many of us have more mundane \u2013 but just as real \u2013 concerns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What will this new technological wave mean for the workplace in five to 10 years\u2019 time? And if we have a child or teenager in school, what on earth should they be studying to have a chance of landing a decent job in the AI era?<\/p>\n\n\n\n The good news is that the panel of experts I consulted all felt confident there would still be skilled jobs for the graduates and school-leavers of the next decade. But one thing they all flagged up was the need for today\u2019s students to understand how algorithms and AI work, what they\u2019re good at, and what they\u2019re bad at \u2013 not least to survive their contact with the algorithms of today, running Instagram, TikTok and more. And there are certain ways of approaching it that could future-proof your career.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When it comes to employment right now, says Karl Schulenburg, AI director for the digital agency Reason, the best jobs that are being created by the AI boom are concentrated in one sector \u2013 coding and development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But that won\u2019t always be the case. Coding could become less relevant once AI improves and can handle that side \u2013 it\u2019s critical thinking that will be more valuable. \u201cIt\u2019s not coding or bust,\u201d says Dr Elvira Perez Vallejos, professor of digital technology for mental health at the University of Nottingham.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For all its advantages, AI technology still relies on humans. It isn\u2019t \u201cintelligent\u201d in any true sense and is archly described informally by some academics as \u201cspicy autocorrect\u201d \u2013 it essentially guesses, given a pattern of words or images, what is most likely to come next in that sequence, and from this it generates paragraphs of copy, images and so on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The technology, described like that, seems simple enough but the results are extraordinary. It is brilliant at seeming plausible and being able to generate sensible-looking texts, but is bad at confirming its accuracy, at making significant creative leaps, and such like. Simply knowing what AI is good at and bad at could benefit anyone, but especially people soon to enter the workforce.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIf you look at it five years\u2019 time, there\u2019s also going to be a lot of myths and disinformation, because a lot of content will be AI-generated,\u201d says Schulenburg. \u201cAnd so equipping kids with critical thinking skills is paramount for society and democracy, regardless of employment.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n But for younger children, who might be a decade or more away from the job market, and older children who are not that inclined towards maths or technical skills, all is far from lost \u2013 in fact, if AI continues to develop at its current rate, coding skills might be largely redundant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWith generative AI, coding\u2026 I really believe we will be replaced because generative AI [already] codes more efficiently than a human,\u201d says Dr Vallejos. She thinks that critical thinking and understanding of technology will prove to be key, citing that young people she has brought together in her research want to focus on those issues more than they do abstract technological issues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYoung people are interested in understanding how algorithms work, how personalisation works, how the internet works,\u201d she says. \u201cAnd they feel that the current curriculum doesn\u2019t equip them to understand everything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI have two teenage girls and as a parent I would stress it\u2019s about equipping them to protect their data and privacy, and to be more mindful on the issues that they encounter online. It\u2019s about the misinformation, the manipulation, how big corporations are gaining lots of control, and so on.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Early signs suggest that some sectors will face much more radical reform than others, such as call centres and customer service. \u201cThey\u2019ll very likely become things of the past,\u201d says Schulenburg \u2013 a startling prediction given that around 1 in 25 UK workers have call-centre jobs, a total of approximately one million people. That rapid shift could especially affect school-leavers, particularly in northern towns, where call centres are concentrated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Another sector likely to be impacted early on is the creative industries, including illustration, design and journalism. \u201cContent copywriting and creative roles will be heavily AI-assisted,\u201d notes Schulenburg. \u201c[But] I don\u2019t think the jobs for humans will go away.\u201d Although these jobs may still exist, but in smaller numbers, skilled creation is still used to enhance and to check the AI\u2019s output.<\/p>\n\n\n\nFuture-proof careers<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Not just coding<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Who will be redundant?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n