I was recently asked what advice to give students about which courses they should pursue so they can be gainfully employed when they graduate.
No, this wasn’t some profound moment in a hushed university lecture hall. It was my drinking buddy interrogating me in a cricket-themed pub in Bukit Damansara after we’d both exceeded the legal limit to operate anything more complex than a toilet flush.
Unlike a Luddite, I won’t throw a proverbial spanner in the works. I think the mass adoption of AI is inevitable. But there are legitimate concerns here. This technology is probably one of the most consequential developments in modern human history.
Throughout history, when new technology emerges, new jobs emerge as well. When cars replaced horses, we replaced “Excrement Removal Specialists” with “Mechanics”.
It’s painfully obvious that AI will displace a lot of jobs, mostly white-collar professional ones (and whatever jobs beautiful people do like influencing, being photogenic and looking fashionably nonchalant).
This isn’t unexpected. What’s still not obvious to most people is the speed and scale at which this will happen. More people will be displaced from their existing careers before new types of jobs are created. And that is, frankly, scary.
To adapt, I guess most of us need to learn some artisanal skills that can be turned into a side gig that pays, like cooking or baking. Worst case, when the robots finally seize the means of production, people will still pay for good Kueh Kapit especially if it’s made by someone who used to be a senior marketing and tech consultant.