How to Compete with AI for Jobs?
Can we be faster, better, and cheaper? Let’s ask an AI.
We are just at the beginning of broadly potent Artificial Intelligence (AI). These AIs are already taking real jobs; ironically in some creative spaces faster than others. For example, an AI created the main image of this post. No person was hired to imagine and draw it.
Companies are already warning us
The people behind OpenAI recently published the following job-relevant research conclusions:
[…] we assess occupations based on their correspondence with GPT capabilities, incorporating both human expertise and classifications from GPT-4. Our findings indicate that approximately 80% of the U.S. workforce could have at least 10% of their work tasks affected by the introduction of GPTs, while around 19% of workers may see at least 50% of their tasks impacted. The influence spans all wage levels, with higher-income jobs potentially facing greater exposure. Notably, the impact is not limited to industries with higher recent productivity growth. We conclude that Generative Pre-trained Transformers exhibit characteristics of general-purpose technologies (GPTs), suggesting that as these models could have notable economic, social, and policy implications.
If your employment value comes through a keyboard, an AI will do it
I’m genuinely curious and trying to understand how real people can continue to compete down the road with these amazing machines. So for a data point, I asked the ChatGPT AI the following question.
How can we prepare ourselves to leverage AI tools to be more employable rather than be replaced by them?
ChatGPT answered like this …
As AI becomes more prevalent in the workplace, it’s essential to adapt and prepare ourselves to leverage AI tools and technologies to remain competitive and employable. Here are some steps you can take:
1. Stay updated on AI developments: Keep yourself updated with the latest AI trends, technologies, and tools. This will help you stay ahead of the curve and identify new opportunities to apply AI in your work.
2. Develop AI skills: Upskill yourself with the necessary skills to work with AI tools and technologies. These skills could include data analysis, machine learning, and programming languages such as Python and R.
3. Embrace change: Don’t be afraid to embrace change and adapt to new technologies. Be open to learning and experimenting with new AI tools and technologies.
4. Develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills: AI can automate repetitive and mundane tasks, but it cannot replace human creativity, intuition, and problem-solving skills. Focus on developing these skills, which will become increasingly valuable as AI becomes more prevalent.
5. Collaborate with AI: Instead of seeing AI as a threat, collaborate with AI tools to improve your work. AI can help you make more informed decisions, improve efficiency, and automate repetitive tasks, allowing you to focus on higher-value work.
6. Focus on soft skills: Develop your interpersonal and communication skills. These skills are essential in collaborating with other professionals and ensuring that AI solutions are implemented effectively.
In summary, by staying updated with the latest AI trends, developing the necessary AI skills, embracing change, developing critical thinking and problem-solving skills, collaborating with AI, and focusing on soft skills, you can prepare yourself to leverage AI tools and be more employable.
That’s an unsatisfying general answer. However, it may not be bad advice.
Questions we might want to ask now
What is some practical advice that will help people keep gainfully employed so there is a good income, not just a get-by income?
- What’s good advice for a young person entering into their working life?
- Would that advice be different for people in the middle of their working careers?
- What about people nearing the end of their careers? Is that possibly most people now?
We can be sure AI will get faster, cheaper, and better.
