Amy Lindgren
Second Sunday Series – Editor’s Note: This is the tenth of 12 columns on AI and work, appearing the second Sunday of each month, from September through August. Last month’s column described AI issues for writers, while previous columns looked at AI tools for organizing or conducting the job search; interview prep; resumes and cover letters; best practices for companies using AI; tips for using ChatGPT; work opportunities with artificial intelligence; AI use in the hiring process; and an overview of artificial intelligence in general.
One concern about artificial intelligence is whether using it will erode workers’ skill sets. And if so, is that just the inevitable cost of productivity gains?
It’s a topic that deserves at least a book or two for analysis. Even so, I’ll jump in with this brief look as part of my monthly Second Sunday series on AI and work.
We’ll start with the skills side of the equation. Career counselors know that skills are a foundational concept and a way of ordering everything from different kinds of jobs to the stair-stepping needed for certain career paths.
I use a stripped down definition of “skill” and rely on a few distinct categories.
• Definition: A skill is something you can do, regardless of why/how. That is, you could be self-taught, formally trained, or just talented in a specific area. But if you can do that thing, whatever it is, you have that skill. Note that this definition doesn’t describe proving the skill, but most employers will want more than just your word for it.
The categories of skills as I see them:
• Task / industry skills and knowledge — such as the skills an actuary or barber would use in their specific jobs. I’ve also seen these called “hard skills.”
• Soft skills — which include human-centered strengths, such as empathy or conflict management or leadership.
• Core skills — which I identify as the baseline skills I believe every worker needs, regardless of the job: Writing, speaking/presenting, persuading, computing, and managing. These are sometimes called universal skills, and the list might shift depending your viewpoint.
• Transferrable skills — which is really an amalgamation of all other skills. Since every skill is transferrable, the question is to what, and for what reason. Core skills are the easiest to transfer from one job or profession to another, while deep industry knowledge might be the least transferrable.
Now that we have a definition and categories of skills, what do they have to do with artificial intelligence? Just this: Skills are the building blocks for jobs. All of them. Employers may say they’re hiring you for your degrees or experience, but in truth, it’s your skills they’re after. If you remember that a skill is “something you can do,” you’ll see that employers hire you to do something, not be something. Except for situations when specific training is regulated — nursing, for example — employers are free to ignore how you got the skill they need.
They’re also free to ignore whether you’re human.
And there’s the issue in a nutshell: If employers need the skill, not the degree or even the human pulse, then what keeps them from using AI instead of a worker for any specific task? The answer: nothing, except for the limitations presented by the technology itself. For example, if AI is too expensive, too cumbersome, or simply not feasible, it won’t take over that role. Easy examples include high-touch work (nursing again) or physical roles such as most jobs in the trades.
Having posed the question earlier about whether AI erodes worker skills, I have to believe it does — because that happens with pretty much every technology. As an example, ask yourself how many people can read a map, now that they routinely get directions from GPS?
Which brings us to core skills — those that are fundamental to every job, from the trades to the C-suite, and which are highly transferrable between jobs, careers, and even self-employment. If I were going to ensure that any of my skills remained strong, I’d focus on building/rebuilding my communication skills (writing, speaking, managing, persuading) and my computing/technology skills (including use of AI tools).
These are the skills that make each person unique, but also the skills we most need in our regular lives and not just our jobs. They’re also the skills used to navigate sudden changes brought on by AI, which are certain to keep coming.
In next month’s Second Sunday column, I’ll share resources to help you maintain core skills and better navigate an increasingly AI-driven world.
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Amy Lindgren owns a career consulting firm in St. Paul. She can be reached at alindgren@prototypecareerservice.com.
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