The future of jobs

As covid19 continues to present unprecedented challenges for individuals and communities, companies across TT and the wider Caribbean continue to take a stand and do what’s right to re-establish health and safety. Providing meaningful leadership by creating sustainable solutions through community efforts and business pursuits, they leverage the breadth of innovative technologies, techniques and talent to empower communities working to overcome society’s toughest challenges.

Technology is seen as the most radical driver of change, from artificial intelligence (AI) and automation to digital mobility and virtual collaboration. The lines between our work and personal lives are shifting. As work becomes more information-based, exponential technologies such as AI, robotics and the internet of things (IoT) can be leveraged to execute tasks with greater accuracy and productivity. As the nature of human work changes in the emerging technological context, a new workforce is set to emerge. A new breed of jobs, requiring multiple, diverse skills, will replace current roles and jobs to some degree. Several jobs in high demand today — cybersecurity experts, data scientists, cloud architects and AI engineers, among others — did not exist 10 years ago, or lacked the prominence they enjoy today.

Reports suggest that AI will change 100 per cent of jobs over the next ten years. Students today will need to understand AI to be successful, regardless of their career path. Teachers across the country have proven to be champions for learning and enablement, even in these months of physical distancing. Seeing this, and understanding the need to support educators around the world, one chamber member company is leading an effort to train through IBM AI Education powered by mindSpark Learning.

This is an immersive, interactive and professional learning suite of free live and on-demand learning experiences crafted by and for educators to guide teachers through AI’s foundational concepts. Participants are learning how to infuse their content and curriculum with the knowledge, skills and values driving innovation in AI today.

Through a partnership with Restore a Sense of I Can (RSC), a non-profit organisation focused on social development through education and technology, IBM and mindSpark Learning are training and supporting thousands of educators in Trinidad and across the Caribbean. As we settle in to work from home, teach from home and learn from home, it is essential that teachers have the tools they need to connect with students in a virtual setting. And while there’s no question that in remote areas of the country many are struggling to access devices and connect to reliable internet sources, it continues to be imperative that students have the tools they need to stay connected and learn from one another.

Because of AI, the world is changing more rapidly than ever before. People used to have five jobs. Now they have five careers. The ability to be agile is increasingly important, because technical skills are expanding and simultaneously becoming obsolete. By the time many students graduate, they will need to be adaptable to different careers or skills than they studied. Companies like IBM want teachers to understand that AI is not just computer science in a classroom. It is relevant in every career field. The more we’re able to develop a strong foundation for students and educators in STEM fields the better we can enhance computational thinking.

No matter the challenge we’ll continue bringing together the right communities of experts. By applying data, knowledge and computing power we can all help to solve difficult problems.

And together, as a community, we will find our way through this.

The Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce thanks IBM Trinidad and Tobago for contributing this article.

(Content courtesy the Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce)