How to create a human future for education & employment
Black Mirror, Doctor Who, even sometimes Rick & Morty, they are all top Netflix shows but we seem not to realize that their scenarios are much more likely to become our own reality within a couple years.
The creator of Black Mirror, for instance, explained at an interview, that the title of this show means:
“Any TV, any LCD, any iPhone, any iPad — something like that — if you just stare at it, it looks like a black mirror, and there’s something cold and horrifying about that, and it was such a fitting title for the show.”
All these Sci-Fi shows and movies are throwing messages about the possible drastic changes introduced by all the new technology trends, that we humans are creating, and setting off as independent identities, such as with Artificial Intelligence.
We are glued to our screens but we are not progressing or making any positive impact, compared with the amount of information and possibilities we have at our reach. So how do we fit in the future where humans seem to be irrelevant?
The only way to put some order and make some common sense out of the huge amount of Big Data on this digital revolution is by upgrading our education system and career options.
Knowledge is power, but the amount of information out there is countless. Learning how actually allow your brain to learn instead of storage information is the first beginning point.
EDUCATION
Starting off with the first steps all of us take, going to school while building a curious mind and personality.
A kid that starts school now, will graduate university by 2030, and by that time the job scenario will be very different.
As an example, someone who studies medicine to become a surgeon or a doctor today may need to learn how to 3D-print body limbs for future operations instead of knowing how to perform a transplant.
“Yet, in most schools, you visit in 2018, you see teachers teaching the exact same subject matter as they taught in 1918: reading, writing, math, science, history and foreign languages”, says Hadi Partovi in his article.
Furthermore, according to data gathered by the World Economic Forum, the two favorite subjects at school by pupils are art, computer science, and engineering. Creative subjects that invite to build, innovate and continuously learn.
“Computer science is not just about coding. It is also about computational thinking, interface design, data analysis, machine learning, cybersecurity, networking and robotics”, says Hadi. “Computer science shouldn’t be relegated to after-school clubs, robotics contests or hackathons. It should be taught as part of the primary and secondary school day, accessible to all students.”
Here is where misunderstanding can happen: computer science and engineering are not just about coding and programming. These two subjects involve much more: data analysis, machine learning, cybersecurity, and robotics, to name a few.
Sounds familiar? These all are the future of work, with the more reason to prepare students with these innovative and visionary skills of the future.
THE JOB MARKET
Robotics, 3D printing, and nano and biotechnology. The fourth industrial revolution is here to reinvent, disrupt and recreate the job market, and probably the human body as we know it too.
Within the next decade, or even within the next five years, over 70 million jobs may be lost for humans, and over a hundred million jobs will be created globally for both humans and machines, as we shift towards a new digital era.
According to the Future of Jobs Report 2018 made by the World Economic Forum:
“To prevent an undesirable lose-lose scenario — technological change accompanied by talent shortages, mass unemployment and growing inequality — it is critical that businesses take an active role in supporting their existing workforces through reskilling and upskilling, that individuals take a proactive approach to their own lifelong learning and that governments create an enabling environment, rapidly and creatively, to assist in these efforts.”
It’s not enough anymore to want to create new technologies. The new categories and job types unfolded by the Fourth Industrial Revolution may create bigger, or new gaps for a worker’s age, gender, geolocation or working hours.
By 2050, artificial intelligence will do most of the job for us humans: planning your day, networking, shopping, even speaking, recording or taking pictures. The simple act of thinking and reasoning may be a thing of the past when we have everything planned out for us.
Factories and warehouses will be managed by robots. Injuries, major diseases like cancer, and a mental diagnosis like depression, will be detected by machines by scanning your skin or your voice.
So how do you reinvent yourself, keep up with the huge amount of information and compete for your future job with machines? For now, is simple, be realistic and be human.
Ask yourself where do you see yourself in five years (the typical interview question, and yet it is asked for a reason). Treat yourself like your own brand: write your own manifesto, your own motto, your own rules, set your own principles and use positive language.
Set and visualize your future goals, surround yourself by reminders and by people who encourage you to work for those goals, and break them up into smaller tasks (daily, weekly, monthly…).
Continuously develop yourself, just the way your phone keeps updating. Practice how to find your weaknesses, complete courses, your blind spots and work around them, and if you feel hard to find them, seek help, find a coach.
So the answer for humans to prepare for the future while also staying ‘relevant’ in an era where machines will take charge, seems to be found within machines — In order to survive change, gradually update yourself. Break the patterns and have a clear target. Reinvent yourself and seek new insights out of your comfort zone.
