How do we make today’s children future ready to help them face the uncertain world of artificial intelligence with confidence?
Over lunch my friend was talking about her daughter Evelyn. Evelyn studies in a high profile secondary school that focuses on hardcore science and technology. They are at a stage where the daughter has to start considering the choices for her university education. To the dismay of the family, the daughter announced that she wants to major in psychology in her undergraduate degree.
Before jumping into conclusions, let me state this. The parents are both doing great as technology leaders in their careers and they want to give freedom to their daughter to make her own decisions about her future. Yet, they are in a dilemma. They want to want to make sure that Evelyn is taking the right decision. They are also not sure whether studying psychology will give her enough job opportunities in the future.
Here is my take: Psychology graduates will have a bright future.
There are three aspects that we need to consider when we think about the future.
1. Artificial Intelligence and the job landscape
Artificial intelligence has already started disrupting many traditional job roles. The impact of the new disruptive forces in the global economy is massive. This impact is estimated to be 3,000 times larger compared to the impact from the industrial revolution in 18th and 19th centuries (as stated in the book No Ordinary Disruption.) So, are our children future ready?
2. What are the new job opportunities emanating from the widespread use of AI?
Accenture’s global study of 1,000 companies that are already using/planning to use AI has identified three new categories of jobs that would emerge as AI gets sophisticated. Surprisingly, these are not jobs that require deep technological knowledge. These are jobs that will require humans as intermediaries to include, review or correct empathy and emotions in the machine-learning algorithms.
3. What are the driving factors for these new jobs?
A major hurdle in the progress of AI taking over a large part of our lives is one factor – our emotion. Human emotion is the final frontier for AI. Effective ways to read and replicate human emotions are yet to be invented.
I believe that the way we see psychology will change in the future. We will certainly see dramatic changes in the role of psychologists in the workplace. This means that we need to consider that when we talk about future readiness of today’s children.
Should Evelyn pursue psychology?
Today’s and tomorrow’s job market and requirements are very different from yesterday’s. Any field that will provide more insight into human emotions and consciousness will be of demand. So, I think she should. What do you think? Leave your thoughts in the comments section below.
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Share this article with your friends and colleagues, so that they too are aware of this amidst their busy schedules.
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About Sindu Sreebhavan
Sindu Sreebhavan is the founder of As Many Minds Minds Pte Ltd and the founding Chief Editor of The Kidz Parade Edutainment magazine, Asia's premium publication for cultivating creativity and creative writing in children. Sindu is also the founder and the Chairperson of International Youth Leadership and Innovation Forum (IYLIF). Sindu is the author of 'Infinite Possibilities' and the lead co-author of Amazon bestseller 'Breakthrough'. With a passion to infuse innovation in education and inject growth mindset and innovative mindset in people and organisations, Sindu writes, speaks and consults on innovation and creativity in business and education. She says innovation does not start with invention, it starts with a mindset. “The best gift you can give a child is the power of Confidence, Creativity and Communication” is her tagline. She is passionate about educating educators, parents and children about youth development, youth leadership, education innovation and 21st century education. She supports children, parents, schools and several organisations in these areas.
