AI means people working with machines, not against them – expert

A corporate executive yesterday debunked a perception that – due to the advancement in artificial intelligence (AI) – the future of work was about people versus machines.

Speaking on the topic Rethinking the Future of Work at the Singularity University South Africa Summit 2019 at the Kyalami International Convention Centre, Deloitte Africa’s chief digital and innovation officer Valter Adao said the reality was “more nuanced and positive”.

“Technology alone can’t do it. It takes humans with machines, working together in a designed system,” he said.

“When human achievement can be enhanced through collaboration with the machines, there is an opportunity to excel.”

Adao’s goal at Deloitte has been to push companies beyond potential disruption towards new opportunities for relevance, growth and expansion.

He said: “The future of work is often seen, incorrectly, as people versus machines.

“The focus on learning and education should extend to marginalised populations across all age groups, from children to older generations, who want to transition into the new workforce.

“Incentives could be designed to support this approach to lifelong education by facilitating access to ongoing … training throughout a working career that will exceed 50 years.”

Conservatively, he said, knowledge was decaying at a rate of 30% per year and individuals embarking upon a 30-year career would have to continuously update and refresh their skills.

Ecosystems should rethink education and establish a framework to help everyone develop their talent more rapidly, with the vision being their personal and professional development, which potentially translated to “relevance to the job market”.

Work was increasingly becoming augmented by technology, “which frees up greater capacity for higher-order cognitive tasks”.

Research suggested there would be well-paid new jobs that would require a high degree of social skills which were “essentially human in nature”.

He continued: “We anticipate a movement toward a stem-pathetic workforce…”

Stem is a curriculum that educates students in science, technology, engineering and mathematics in an interdisciplinary and applied approach.

Deloitte, said Adao, was optimistic about the future of AI.

“While shifts will likely bring challenges as the workforce transitions, they could evolve workforces to create and capture more value by reinventing work through human learning and discovery,” he said.

Opportunities allow a reimagining and evolution of the work, workplace and workforce.

Deloitte’s global strategic alliance with Singularity University aimed to help business leaders in “preparing for what’s coming next, as well as overcoming the challenges and seizing the opportunities presented by the Fourth Industrial Revolution”.

Education, energy and employment are among the eight grand challenges that needed to be addressed for business and the economy to thrive in the new digital reality.

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