The future is not some pie-in-the-sky notion — it has arrived. The future of work that we have all been talking about, along with other examples in other parts of life, is bearing down on us each day. Most of us live in the future without ever knowing it or understanding how we will be working differently. For example, engineering and data science teams are currently creating products using large language models (LLMs), like the ones underpinning ChatGPT, as once-fiendish technologies wheel into our daily lives.
In an increasingly AI-driven world, the way we interact with Artificial Intelligence (AI) is changing. A future that once felt far, almost dystopian, exists now, and we must pay heed to it while adapting. In other words, instead of altogether replacing human sensibilities and knowledge, more sophisticated descriptions now describe AI as augmenting our abilities rather than diminishing them.
AI: Baby Steps, Giant Leaps
The introduction of AI in workplaces is a huge shift in organizational speed and efficiency. But the transformation is going incrementally, one step at a time, instead of making giant leaps. Successful AI adoption comes down to tactical decisions on which jobs to automate. These selections should be limited to tasks in which AI can make a big difference, even if only at high levels of remaining performance. In those first stages, businesses will likely see the highest return on investment by automating back-office tasks where automation value is high, failure cost is low, and performance requirements are within reach of current AI models. This gives organizations an organic growth road map that does not require moonshot projects with very high risk on top of the transition period.
Career: Liquidity, Lifespan, and Legacy Liquid Career
The future of work is no longer about navigating rigid career paths. Using AI, one can add their skills to multiply their value in the job market successfully, as mentioned by Aakash Dharmadhikari, co-founder at Realfast. Once upon a time, most of us had only one career for our whole working life, but today the pivot is de rigueur. Soon enough, careers will only get more kaleidoscopic; we may observe a person not just in one but many sectors — even various roles within those segments. This means organizations will need to reevaluate how they define jobs. Instead of having a square peg in the round hole that is so often job descriptions, companies may seek to be more task-oriented by focusing on outcomes rather than titles or roles. According to Dharmadhikari, “We are largely moving towards humans using AI as a glorified tool that will help them do further. At scale, this will require creating an adaptive workforce with skills that AI can improve and boost.”
Increased Focus on Cross-Functional Roles Opposed to Industry-Specific Jobs
Another major trend is moving away from specific industry roles towards more cross-industry, problem-focused kinds of work. As AI proliferates, industry boundaries become increasingly irrelevant. Instead, the focus is moving towards solution-agnostic solutions — irrespective of which industry they appear in. Nishant Singh, a Tencent AI evangelist from TCS, breaks down the impacts of artificial intelligence on labor. As a marketer, Singh leverages AI tools to make content creation and data analysis easier. It may sound like an over-exaggeration, but in reality, these tools allow him to transcend the normal realms as he is no longer held down by his job description and can focus on solving specific problems: from improving social listening output to generating more content ideas. Prompting will become a meta-skill as AI becomes more ubiquitous. Being able to communicate with AI systems — knowing what questions to ask or how a given AI system may come to certain conclusions and then guiding that process towards desired outcomes — will become imperative in our future workplaces. This shift towards problem-focused roles will demand a new mindset that fosters creativity, flexibility, and a thorough knowledge of how to use AI proficiently.
AI Ready … or Not
As the internet changed life and work, AI will do more to us faster. The question now is how to navigate this new paradigm, and one of the answers might be to become an “AI ready company.” This involves not only a deep knowledge of AI technologies but also the ability to understand market trends and continually upskill as AI continues to rapidly grow. Raghu Pandey, founder of iMature — an organization focused on digital citizenship and internet maturity — said one should gear up for a sonorous tomorrow of liquid careers. With the fast-evolving nature of AI, we all need to work on three main axes: Internet Maturity and Digital Skills Set-up, which will become even more important considering that people need to properly understand what digital skills they can actually learn and develop, and most importantly, which ones everyone (all generations) should adopt; Market Evolution, with continuous learning of the latest technology and changing job market trends; and Best-Case Scenarios, getting ahead of the game with AI opportunities like increased efficiency and potential new jobs.
The Challenges of AI Integration
Much like our picture of the future, we are both optimistic and yet face an almost insurmountable set of challenges as it relates to a cooperative human-machine society. The next years will be a phase of adaptation in which professionals from any sector will have to learn how to use AI. Some of these AI-driven tasks may change or disappear, so we will need to redesign and/or replace old job descriptions. However, this does not mean that all human jobs will become obsolete; rather, AI will handle boring and repetitive chores, freeing up time for us to be more creative. The real challenge will be how individuals and organizations can leverage AI. This includes utilizing AI for high-level tasks and dealing with the ethical side of integrating AI into our services, such as data protection, trust, and bias.
Bottom Line
Learning how to remain open, resilient, and inquisitive throughout your career can help you thrive during these seemingly disruptive times of automation. It is not about defining a trade-off but achieving a balance between human creativity and AI efficiency. With AI soon to play more of a supporting role in our lives, the opportunities for innovation and expansion will be enormous. If we treat AI as a fellow problem-solving partner, instead of as competition, this newfound approach to career growth and business success can reach new dimensions.
FAQs
So what is career liquidity, and how will AI impact it?
Career liquidity, or the ease of transitioning through different roles and sectors, will be further improved by AI, which can supplement the skills a worker already has, enabling them to work in different industries and job roles.
What will this change of reality mean for traditional job roles?
Jobs of the future will be more problem-focused than industry-specific, meaning companies hiring AI developers only for educational institutions or other reasons will soon cease to exist. Job descriptions will tend to be less role-based and more task-based, focusing on solving particular problems.
What does it mean for people to be “AI ready”?
Being “AI ready” means building a solid foundation in digital skills, staying updated on the latest developments around AI, and continually training yourself based on job market conditions.
Is AI Going to Steal Our Jobs?
While a lot of repetitious work will be automated by AI, not all human jobs will become redundant. Instead, AI will free up humans to pursue creative and strategic work, leading to more productivity.
Why is it hard to implement AI in work?
Challenges include restructuring job tasks, addressing ethical concerns regarding data privacy and bias, and adequately training workers to collaborate with AI.