Be Future Proof

4th Industrial Revolution is here. What does the future of employability look like? What skills will be necessary at the future workplace?

As the founder of TinkerTank, I came from a place of becoming an Artist — a life long dream, to then be a Computer Artist… with no desire to get into technology. I was honestly terrified. I just wanted to hold a pencil in may hand, and create. However — the opportunity was there— and I was offered to work with some of the best minds in the arts — AND technology — I could not resist. I would have to learn a new tool…

We I started my journey in Animation, there were no “Computer Animators”. Just like today we have jobs that were not around 5–10 years ago:

• Social media strategist
• SEO manager
• Drone operator

Not since the Industrial Revolution have we seen such huge and rapid technological advancement. With the Internet and Smartphones alone — we have created jobs that we would never have been able to imagine just a few years ago.

More that 44% of jobs could be automated in the next 20 years

Technological shifts are giving us new and exciting jobs, but they could just as easily make many jobs obsolete. There’s one technology in particular dominating many future-focused conversations: Artificial Intelligence (AI). Will the robots really take my job??

How will it look for Education?

This video really shows us a glimpse into AI in education, explaining how education could lead the charge and be the change required… we all know that the system needs to be flipped, could this be the way? Dr. Bernhard Schindlholzer is a technology manager working on Machine Learning and E-commerce. In this talk he gave at TEDx FHKufstein, Bernhard Schindlholzer contemplated the implications of ephemeralization — the ability of technological advancement to do “more and more with less and less until eventually you can do everything with nothing” — through artificial intelligence and machine learning. He explores the challenges that this technological approach poses to our economy and how they could be addressed by questioning established norms of our education systems.

Which jobs are most at risk?

Jobs that are predictable, repeatable or analytic, are the ones that are going to be taken over by AI first. When analysing data, it is better done with AI than humans in almost every circumstance. What people might have once considered normal jobs, like working in a bank or in administration, accounting and now even law… these are the jobs most at risk. As Faethm.ai has pointed out:

They’re not sure where to start but they know it’s a problem and the know they need to do something about it. Some companies have formed teams so that puts them in the leader bracket, but now they need to go and take action.

Greg Miller, Executive Director and Co-Founder, Faethm

PwC, did a study with Oxford University study — it suggested the following jobs had over an 85 percent probability of being automated in the next 20 years:

• Accounting clerks

• Cashiers

• General office admin workers

• Wood machinists

• Financial and insurance administration workers

• Farm, forestry and garden workers

• Personal assistants and secretaries

• Sales administration workers

• Keyboard operators

• Hospitality administration and support workers

• Sales assistants and salespersons

• Real estate sales agents

What does this mean for our future?

Let’s learn how best to adapt and plan for the future. Let’s find these new jobs that are being created every day because of these new technologies as exciting opportunities to expand knowledge, and train up.

Let’s view this shift in the status quo as it ultimately values the individual and their originality — a quality that education always aims to provide but has failed us. Now is the time for education to change up and really foster these qualities.

Disruptive thinkers like the crew behind TinkerTank are helping to create the latest evolution in the education system. We have broken ground over 6 years ago with the PBL and CLL app ATEN, and then rolled it into STEAM PBL AND CLL in a safe and supported environment.

Knowledge, is worthless on its own, what’s most important in this new world of innovation economy, is creativity and what you do with what you the combination. Institutionalised learning is creating mote learners with little drive. We need Students with **soft and hard skills** to take on the problems of the 21st century.

What are the skills of the future?

Social skills and creativity are high on the list — like jobs in design, the arts, counselling and social work — but it goes even further.

The ability to adapt. To combine those hard and soft skills. Those who can quickly adapt and find ways to work with the new technology, rather than distance themselves from it, will be the ultimate winners.

Your background makes no difference, if you’re a creative or more of an admin/manager, you are still going to have to know and be able to apply technology in the future.

The good news is — there will always be new problems to solve so there will always be jobs! We have found learners at TinkerTank pick up new ideas and adapt to technological shifts, easily with our core programs to become resilient problem solvers. If we provide programming and imbed this into the educational system, here in Australia first and then into the US — well the future would be looking pretty bright!