The most valuable skill an employee can have in the digital age is… the ability to ask AI?
Titans of the tech industry have taken to social media and other public speaking engagements to reassure Gen-Z, the newest members of the workforce, that AI won’t be detrimental to job availability — in fact, it might be able to aid in their employment.
“AI is changing everything, faster than most institutions, companies or curriculums can keep pace with. But no, that doesn’t mean your education or potential is obsolete. It means we have to think differently about what growth and opportunity look like,” wrote LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman in a recent post on the platform.
“You were born into this shift. You’re native to these tools in a way that older generations aren’t. Lean into it. Teach others.”
“You don’t have to become an engineer to use AI powerfully,” Hoffman advised. “Think about how to apply it creatively, how to solve real problems with it, how to collaborate with it. One of your first reactions to any challenge should be ‘How can I use AI to help me here?’”
Hoffman isn’t the only one at his level who is optimistic about AI’s influence on the workforce — other high-level tech execs offered similar thoughts about the future landscape of the job market.
Amazon CEO Andy Jassy shared that the implementation of generative AI will likely “reduce” the company’s corporate workforce.
AI “should change the way our work is done,” wrote Jassy in a memo distributed to employees and posted publicly.
“Those who embrace this change, become conversant in AI, help us build and improve our AI capabilities internally and deliver for customers, will be well-positioned to have high impact and help us reinvent the company,” he added.
Overall, the message coming from industry leaders is that being adaptive and willing to incorporate AI into current professional practices is the real key to being well-positioned for the future job market — but this idea is being obscured under encouraging niceties that are fed to Gen-Z.
“Whilst they may be at an advantage with their AI skills more so than previous generations, they will still need the practical, world-wise experience to flush out any AI inconsistencies and errors that older workers will possess,” Keith Arundale, a visiting fellow at the UK’s Henley Business School, told Newsweek.
“Comfort without mastery can backfire. Gen Z’s early exposure is an advantage, but it isn’t a golden ticket,” agreed Fabian Stephany, assistant professor for AI and Work at the University of Oxford, in an interview with Newsweek.
Despite the positive packaging that this potential employment crisis tends to be wrapped up in, some top tech figures remain skeptical.
Automation and increased usage of AI by large companies is “going to happen in a small amount of time — as little as a couple of years or less,” Dario Amodei, CEO of AI company Anthropic, told Axios.
“We, as the producers of this technology, have a duty and an obligation to be honest about what is coming. I don’t think this is on people’s radar,” Amodei continued.
In reality, Gen-Z isn’t necessarily better equipped to handle the demands of modern-day jobs just because of a generational familiarity with AI. They still need soft skills and the social abilities to properly navigate dilemmas that professional environments often pose — employers and industry leaders just tend to leave that part out.
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