Jobs of the Future

Economists and technology prognosticators are going back and forth trying to convince us whether artificial intelligence, robots and other thinking machines may destroy or create jobs. The McKinsey Global Institute and India’s Tata Communications recently came out with reports that are more optimistic regarding our capacity to make a living in a world where machines do lots of the thinking.

The report suggests that today, 61% of businesses are employing artificial intelligence in some way. This has increased from 38% in 2016. The artificial leaders are participating in computer vision and producing natural vocabulary; they are getting to be digital assistants and facilitating machine learning and improved decision making.

McKinsey expects the worldwide economy to produce an extra 1.2% GDP growth during the next ten years because of those improved business capabilities. Meanwhile skilled occupations are going to be in greater demand, and consequently, skilled employees are going to have the ability to demand higher wages.

Tata’s report forecasts that, exactly like software, the AI-enhanced computers will produce many more ways of working – especially new occupations and professions. The McKinsey report essentially agrees but states that there’ll be challenges for the less-computer-literate employees — they will need to be retrained to work together with automation — known as “re-skilling” in human resource HR lingo. Otherwise, their opportunities will drop to 30% of jobs –down from 40% of today’s jobs — that are held by non-computer literate workers.

As an example, you’ve probably waited in a long line to return something at a store. Companies now have staffers approach men and women in with iPads in hand. They can look up the client’s purchase, immediately identify or scan in the item they are returning, review purchase history, and let the customer know if they will receive an exchange or refund. The entire customer support experience changes with technology.

The forecast from these reports is like the changes from software a generation ago — people and machines will collaborate to manage more information quicker and in more creative ways to innovate and resolve problems. The key skill set will be the ability to constantly learn and embrace new ways of doing things. For those with this capability, the future seems bright.