The Aim of this Module is to:
Explore the impact of disruptive technologies on the workforce, and its implications on preparing for the future workforce.
The future conjures many images – some good, some not so good. A larger global population, robots serving our drinks, climate change, mobile phones embedded beneath our skin, incredible advances in medical science. One of the biggest challenges facing students will be a vastly changed workforce. This module will introduce students to the possibilities they must prepare for.
On completion of this module students should:
- Understand how disruptive technologies impact on the world and will change the way we think, work and live
- Be aware of the types of jobs that will be created and destroyed by technology
- Recognise the challenges faced by future workers in an increasingly digitalised, 24/7 workforce
- Be conscious of the possibility of a working lifetime of several careers and multiple jobs
- Prepare for the future workforce by up-skilling in areas of technology and STEM
- Remain informed of the areas of demand from industry (digital skills, critical thinking, creativity), and explore all future possibilities
- Understand the challenges and benefits of a globalised workforce
- Stay flexible
So which jobs are the safe bets of the future and which jobs will go? Students need to be thinking seriously, right now, about the jobs that will still be around for them when they leave school and beyond. The jobs that have low levels of social interaction, creativity and mobility and dexterity are more likely to be replaced by computers or robots. These are jobs such as:
- Information clerks
- Retail salespersons
- Security guards
- Bartenders
- Reporters
- Legal assistants
- Taxi drivers
- Cooks
- Financial advisors
- Musicians
There is no need for students to despair. Jobs that require a certain level of social intelligence and creativity such as those in education, healthcare, the arts and media are likely safe, for the foreseeable future. It also helps to remember that robots are not humans. They still need to be programmed, for now at least. What students need to do is to familiarise themselves with computers, computer programming, AI (Artificial Intellegence and robotics as they prepare for the future workforce.
FUTURE JOB POSSIBILITIES
With rapid advances in robotics and computerisation, students should be aware of the jobs that may no longer exist in the future, so that they can focus their energies on preparing for those that will.
In 1989, Back to the Future II predicted a 2015 complete with flying cars, hover-boards and self-lacing shoes. While those are still mostly out of the reach, plenty has changed in 30 years. So what will our world look like in another 30 years time?
Imagine 2045
The world will have about 9 billion people (3 billion more than now). We will be consuming more resources and leading technologically complex lives. There may be robots, flying cars and space travel for the ordinary person. There will be a transformed energy industry, advances in medical technology and treatments, and increased life expectancy. The list goes on...
How does the future workplace look different to today?
This is the science of programming computers and robots to perform the tasks of humans, such as speech recognition, language translation, visual perception and decision-making.
AI is intelligence shown by machines (computers are advanced machines and robots are advanced computers). The ideal ‘intelligent’ machine is a flexible and rational agent that sees its environment and does things to maximise its chance of success in achieving certain goals. Two good examples of AI at work are the computer that has beaten world champion chess players, and the soon coming driverless car.
As exciting as an AI future is, some researchers are aware of the risks involved in AI succeeding too well. In 2016, Google’s AI subsidiary DeepMind taught a computer program to play a variety of Atari video games at a superhuman level, in only a few hours. The program was given no background knowledge, which meant it managed to learn the game from scratch.
Questions:
Should these results impress or scare us?
What AI and Deep Learning?
Are humans in danger through giving such power to technology?
How will this shape the world as we know it?
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