Last week I was invited to speak on panel on how to lead our workforce through to the new era of automation hosted by the Los Angeles World Affairs Council and Town Hall.
Here are some ideas discussed around the industry trends we see and how we can best prepare for the jobs of the future while ensuring equity and equal opportunities across communities.
Automation started even before the 4th industrial revolution and it helped lower the costs of production making goods more affordable to more people while also providing well paid jobs across the board.
Before Covid-19, consumers usually preferred a human element in interactions. However, now with the pandemic, health concerns are prompting a shift in that thinking and are opening up new opportunities for automation. Both large and small companies are already increasing their use of robots to allow for social distancing. It’s safe, it’s effective and it can create jobs contrary to the idea that automation results in job losses and unemployment.
A recent survey by the auditing firm EY found that 41 per cent of respondents were investing in accelerating automation to prepare their businesses for the time after the pandemic. Using robots and thereby reducing face-to-face interaction also presents marketing advantages. According to New York Times bestselling author Martin Ford, workplaces will prefer places with fewer workers and more automation to minimize the risk of coronavirus transmission.
Most manufacturers automate tasks that are repetitive, straining and time-consuming for people to perform. With automation, the human workforce can move to roles that require more soft skills, such as collaboration, communication and problem-solving.
However, we should not assume the dystopian theory that robots will overthrow and dominate us. By investing in retraining, manufacturers can ensure their workers will remain in a secure and fulfilling role.
Robots can complete many blue-collar jobs faster and more accurately than their human counterparts. However, while technology optimizes production, it needs people to make a difference. Numerous jobs in a wide range of industries require human qualities, such as intuition, creativity and care. Hence, investing in the development of 21st century skills like communications, critical thinking and computational thinking among others, we’re empowering humans and workers to create, excel and have a sense of accomplishment from higher ranking jobs.
Some individuals may also choose to move across sectors. As education improves, people will have a wider range of skills that they can apply to roles in other sectors or choose to move around to different job roles rather than staying in a similar role throughout their working life.
Automation can very well reduce the need for human workers to complete mundane admin tasks. But it doesn’t reduce the need for human workers that can complete higher-value tasks, the human touch in service, and make critical decisions.
Automation can free up employees to focus on creative work, problem-solving, and technical roles, which increase engagement and lead to better career opportunities.
Regarding ethical considerations, companies have a responsibility to commit mitigating bias. This mitigation should not be an afterthought, but it should guide AI development and product management processes.
Before developing algorithms, AI designers and developers should be scrutinizing potential biases in data, identifying the potential ramifications of these biases, and then proactively taking steps to minimize them.
Company leaders need to better understand the negative repercussions of the technologies they adopt and commit to building systems that drive economic growth and social cohesion.
Automation is a tool and not a behavior, so the question ‘is automation ethical’ really boils down to whether the creation and use of automation software are ethical. I would argue that it’s not about “ethical AI” but about “responsible AI” where the guiding principles are fairness, interoperability, privacy and security.
Going forward, all parties have a responsibility towards enabling growth and putting technology and AI into good use.
Companies should be focusing on creating on-the-job training opportunities for their employees and workers to develop additional skills. They should be also providing apprenticeships and creating clear, fast-moving career paths for those that want to ascend and grow.
Individuals should be driving their own lifelong learning journey through online courses, internships, volunteer work etc. Also, micro-credentialing is a great way to pick up relevant skills complementing existing knowledge and proving to employers their expertise.
Lastly, the broader public sector administrations should be providing communities with sectoral training programs tied to economic development, allocating resources for supportive services like child care, transportation etc., providing workers with intensive re-employment services and overall improving for employment and wage outcomes from employers.
The future is bright only if we take ownership of our own individual and collective opportunity and power.
