Dream jobs of the future are unknown. Knowing what jobs our kids will have when they grow up is like knowing the results of next weekend’s football results. It’s a guessing game, and the guessing game has become more like the Bathurst 1000 car race – hard, fast and risky.
But will the football players and racing car drivers of the future be like good computer generated imagery (CGI) that we watch in almost every movie without a second thought? The transition from real actors to CGI has taken about thirty years. It’s now so good that it’s hard to judge what’s ‘real’ and what is merely a 3D image on a screen. The art of illustrating by hand every cartoon scene has been replaced by the job description of ‘digital artist’, which eliminated the need for all the people who previously had a job converting drawings on paper to films we saw at the cinema. Retraining or changing careers every ten years is common these days. I’m now on my fourth career path in forty years.
These changes have created challenges and education has been essential to adapting. But photocopiers hadn’t even been invented when I entered the workforce, let alone electronic cash registers and ultrasound machines. So, what I learnt at school to prepare me for the future wasn’t technical skills.
It wasn’t the repetitive tasks that computers do at lightning speeds – 24/7. It was understanding that I was responsible for looking after myself. That meant being willing to learn and to use that knowledge to generate an income to become financially self-sufficient.
Apparently much of the paid work that is available is set to evaporate over the next 10-20 years, due to the implementation of A.I. (Artificial Intelligence). Does that mean that I should teach my grandchildren something different? Is encouraging children to aspire to a good/interesting/well-paying job pointless?
It looks like creative and ‘cognitive’ employment for humans will still be available (A.I. isn’t good at these – yet) in the future. That means that all that painting on the walls I have allowed the girls to do might have been a good thing. Encouraging kids to be the next Einstein, Mozart or Picasso may help their employment prospects, but the reality is that most people are suitable for more pedestrian work. And so, A.I. will do their potential jobs. This means that much of the population will no longer have paid employment.
Yippee! No abusive bosses to deal with. I would have no problem in not having to work, but I don’t want to starve or be homeless. I have no doubt that the financial models will change – they sure need to change.
The questions on everyone’s lips are not about what a dream job might be. They are about how society will change to incorporate the introduction of more automation.
The great thing about living in countries like Australia – a democracy – is that we will shape what our society will look like. Maybe most people will spend their time in community-based tasks or in areas not yet unexplored. Although A.I. change may sound alarming, it could be a new flowering of democracy across the world. After all, the reality of paid employment for many now is just one step removed from being a servant in olden days.
I don’t know about you, but I am looking forward to being part of the ‘new’ society. I’ll be offering photography classes at the community hall and growing more vegies to contribute to the neighbourhood food swap.
