In this original insight article for the Hub, President and CEO of Lumina Foundation, Jamie Merisotis, explores how technology, including AI, can enable human potential and highlights the key points to keep in mind about human work and its growing importance.
Introduction
It’s time to get real about artificial intelligence. Some hail it as a powerhouse for economic growth; others warn that AI is ushering in a world dominated by job-killing robots. As usual, the truth is nuanced, and somewhere in the middle.
In a recent article in Wired, Glen Weyl and Jaron Lanier argue that AI is more a marketing term or ideology than a radical shift in the capability of technology to do work. At its worst, framing new technologies as artificial intelligence distracts us from the all-important human element—the fact that AI does little on its own. In fact, AI is supported by and enables new kinds of human work, the work that only humans can do. Put another way, more and more experts recognize that technology, including artificial intelligence, enables human potential rather than replacing it.
We use Google to get information on virtually any topic, but we give little thought to where the information is actually coming from. For the most part, it’s compiled by humans—be they journalists, researchers, bloggers, or volunteer Wikipedia contributors. Google’s technology, then, rather than replacing humans, actually has unleashed a vast human effort. This human-technology partnership is the true innovation that Google represents, along with countless other online enterprises—including Wikipedia, for that matter.
Of course, many jobs will disappear as a result of technological innovation, but many more will be created. Far from disappearing, human work is growing, and it offers numerous opportunities to those who are prepared for it.
There are three key points to keep in mind about human work and its growing importance:
HYBRID WORK MODELS ARE THE FUTURE
The dramatic changes in work resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic highlight the evolving relationship between people and technology. In many fields and functions, computer technology enabled a remarkably rapid shift to remote work. Lasting changes, including hybrid work models, will grow out of that shift. Studies show that 73 percent of workers want flexible remote work options to continue, and 66 percent of business leaders are considering redesigning physical spaces to better accommodate hybrid work. The impact of that shift will be profound—on cities, on work-life balance, on the environment, and in countless other areas.
Humans and technology aren’t an either-or proposition; they work together as teams to accomplish things. This has long been true in technical fields such as manufacturing and health care, but it’s widespread now, thanks to online, collaborative software such as Zoom and Github.
It’s ironic that we make sure the machines are taken care of but are not nearly as good at taking care of people’s needs. In the human work future, doing whatever it takes to assure that people can add their unique value will be the priority.
HUMAN WORK CREATES NEW KINDS OF JOBS
Hybrid work models include more than just remote work. Totally new opportunities are sure to emerge from the growing collaborations between humans and technology, and the pandemic has accelerated this shift, creating new human work jobs. For example, there are new positions such as disease detective and contact tracer, jobs that blend technology with very human traits and skills. Certainly, the pandemic’s biggest impact has been on existing jobs, as technology takes on or changes more of the tasks that make them up.
But across all jobs, there is an unmistakable and relentless increase in the demand for skills. The occupations with the largest projected increases in job openings are in technology-rich fields such as health care (epidemiologist, biological technicians) and information technology (network and computer systems administrator, information security analyst). Those in greatest decline are relatively low-tech jobs in hospitality (restaurant host and hostess, bartender) and transportation (flight attendant, bus driver). It’s all but impossible for someone who loses a low-tech job to obtain one in a tech-rich field without substantial education and training.
NEW SYSTEMS FOR LEARNING AND EMPLOYMENT ARE NEEDED
In an economy based on human work, the skills and abilities of workers are central. For workers to adapt to the numerous and dramatic changes, all our systems for education, training, and employment will need to change too.
It begins with what people need to know and be able to do. We tend to think that technical skills are paramount when working with technology. Such skills matter, of course, but in human work, the abilities to think critically, reason ethically, collaborate and interact personally, and serve others with empathy are equally important.
Also, the system must support career-long learning. In the human work era, the traditional sequence of learning—the school-college-work pathway—no longer applies, and the “once and done” approach to education is dead. Everyone needs flexible, accessible opportunities to learn throughout life—not just to meet future job demands, but to live their lives more fully.
Likewise, in the human work economy, workers and employers must have a clear understanding of the skills and abilities needed to perform any job. The means all learning—whether it’s traditional college studies, apprenticeships, or on-the-job training offered by employers—should lead to transparent credentials recognised by all.
If we fail to respond to changes in work, the consequences are clear—and dire. For individuals, they can be seen directly in falling life expectancy and decline in the quality of life. For society, it means rising inequality, lost economic prosperity, and a growing segment of the population cut off from meaningful opportunity for a better future.
Work provides more than money. It offers social mobility, personal satisfaction, and other rewards too numerous to list. Of course people need an income to live and support their families, but work offers something even more important: meaning and a sense of purpose. Even workers in the bottom 20 percent of incomes say that having real meaning and financial stability from their work is essential to happiness. Expanding opportunities for meaningful work—human work—has societal benefits far beyond economics.
Jamie Merisotis is president and CEO of Lumina Foundation and the author of Human Work in the Age of Smart Machines.