The world is changing very quickly, our kids need to be prepared for a very different economy than the one we faced. Automation has already demonstrated how it can disrupt economies and now we are seeing automation’s second generation; automation infused with artificial intelligence (AI).
It is likely that a whole new batch jobs that are common today will soon disappear due to gen-2 automation. These AI programs are highly successful at performing repetitive tasks that can be optimized through exposure to large amounts of data. According to Kai-Fu Lee’s book AI Super-powers: China, Silicon Valley, and the New World Order jobs such as taxi driver, truck driver, fast food worker, restaurant cook, dishwasher, assembly line inspector, cashier, basic translator, telemarketer, consumer loan underwriter and insurance adjuster are all expected to mostly disappear.
Lee identifies the jobs that are expected to be safe from second generation automation. First on the list are cognitive jobs which involve social skills, creativity and strategy. By contrast, cognitive jobs that are asocial, which can be optimized based on data like those listed above, are expected to be automated away very soon. The author explains that AI’s lack of creative thinking skills creates the opening for future human jobs.
In order to prepare our children for these complex and challenging changes, it’s important that they develop the skills needed to succeed in an AI-infused, automated future, a future where many job categories will disappear. Taking lessons from Kai-Fu Lee, there a few things parents can encourage in their children:
Children should be developing social skills and their ability to manage unpredictable environments and their creative thinking ability. Note that traditional education, based on rote memorization, is unlikely to help kids develop the skills they need for the future.
Children shouldn’t be so tied to technology that they aren’t making friends and spending healthy, social time with others. Encourage them to develop their social skills by working together with other kids through sports, school projects or artistic projects.
Children should be exposed to cultures different from their own. It’s important for them to learn to get along with others in this diverse and increasingly globalized world.
Children should be encouraged to think more about questions rather than learning facts. The facts will come out of curiosity. It’s more important for them to engage in critical thinking and creative practices.
Children should be encouraged to think in a way that involves multi-tasking and interdisciplinary functions. They should be encouraged to use interactive education apps that help them to think about the subject matter on their own.