1. A recent study by Oxford University estimates that nearly half of all jobs in the US are at risk from automation and computers in the next 20 years. While advancing technologies have been endangering jobs since the start of the Industrial Revolution, this time it is not just manual posts: artificial intelligence — the so-called fourth industrial revolution — promises to change the shape of professional work as well. For instance, lawtech is already proving adept at sorting and analysing legal documents far faster and more cheaply than junior lawyers can. Similarly, routine tasks in accounting are succumbing to AI at the expense of more junior staff.This change is an opportunity to create new and better jobs. Paul Drechsler, who is president of the CBI employers' organisation, is enthusiastic about the future: t6The fourth industrial revolution is the best opportunity that this country has had for decades to leapfrog” in terms of productivity and competitiveness. But he cautions that “the change is happening must faster than the education system”. The next generation will need a new set of skills to survive, let alone thrive, in an AI world. Literacy, numeracy, science and languages are all important, but they share one thing in common: computers are going to be far better than humans at processing these forms of explicit knowledge.
The risk is that the education system will be churning out humans who are no more than second-rate computers, so if the focus of education continues to be on transferring explicit knowledge across the generations, we will be in trouble. The AI challenge is not just about educating more AI and computer experts, although that is important. It is also about building skills that AI cannot emulate. These are essential human skills such as teamwork, leadership, listening, staying positive, dealing with people and managing crises and conflict. These are all forms of tacit knowledge, not explicit knowledge. They are know-how skills, not know- what skills. Know-what is easy to transmit across the generations, and is easy to measure. Know-how skills are hard both to transmit and to measure.
The employability skills gap is already large, and AI will only make it larger. A McKinsey survey found that 40 per cent of employers cited lack of skills to explain entry- level vacancies in their companies. Sixty per cent said that even graduates were not ready for the world of work.
