The fear of jobs being replaced by artificial intelligence (AI) is real and a concern for many. And according to Associate Professor Niusha Shafiabady of Charles Darwin University, it is likely that the technology will displace more jobs in the East than the West due to the numbers and nature of jobs.
However, the AI expert said people shouldn’t be scared that AI takes their jobs. Instead, they should focus on acquiring analytical and critical thinking skills which are safe irrespective of AI systems.
“The types of jobs that will be impacted relatively fast are jobs that require following pre-existing instructions and don’t need analytical thinking skills such as clerical or secretarial roles and administrative roles.,” she said.
The World Economic Forum’s report on the future job market predicts 26 million fewer jobs by 2027 in record-keeping and administrative roles, including cashiers and ticket clerks, data entry, accounting, bookkeeping and payroll clerks, and administrative and executive secretaries.
“If we want to move along the emerging technology like AI, we should equip ourselves with problem solving and analytical thinking skills. Simple, repetitive tasks like answering the phone or scheduling appointments will be displaced by AI relatively quickly,” said Shafiabady.
“Jobs that require analytical thinking skills specially related to AI, big data and cybersecurity as well as leadership and social influence, problem solving and creative thinking skills are among the talents that will be required in the future,” she added.
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Entelechy Asia 