Some coauthors and I have a new report out: Reconstructing jobs: Creating good jobs in the age of artificial intelligence. This essay builds on the previous two from our “future or work” series, Cognitive collaboration and Reconstructing work, published on DU Press (now Deloitte Insights) as part of Deloitte Review #20 (DR20) and #21 (DR21) respectively.
Cognitive collaboration‘s main point was that there are synergies between humans and computers, and that solution crafted by a human and computer in collaboration is superior to, and different from, a solution made either human or computer in isolation. Reconstructing work built on this, pointing out the difference between human and machine was not in particular knowledge or skills exclusive to either; indeed, if we frame work in terms of prosecuting tasks than we must accept that there are no knowledge or skills required that are uniquely human. What separates us from the robots is our ability to work together to make sense of the world and create new knowledge, knowledge that can then be baked in machines to make it more precise and efficient. This insight provided the title of the second essay – Reconstructing work – as it argued that we need to think differently about how we construct work if we want the make the most of the opportunities provided by AI.
This third essay in the series, Reconstructing jobs, takes a step back and looks these jobs of the future might look like. The narrative is built around a series of concrete examples – from contact centres through wealth management to bus drivers – to show how we might create this next generation of jobs. These are jobs founded on an new division of labour: humans creating new knowledge, making sense of the world to identify and delineate problems; AI plans solutions to these problems; and good-old automation to delivers. To do this we must create good jobs, as it is good jobs that make the most of our human abilities as creative problem identifiers. These jobs are also good for firms as, when combined suitably with AI, they will provide superior productivity. They’re also good job for the community, as increased productivity can be used to provide more equitable services and to support *learning by doing* within the community, a rising tide that lives all boats.
The essay concludes by pointing out that there is no inevitability about the nature of work in the future. As we say in the essay:Clearly, the work will be different than it is today, though how it is different is an open question. Predictions of a jobless future, or a nirvana where we live a life of leisure, are most likely wrong. It’s true that the development of new technology has a significant effect on the shape society takes, though this is not a one-way street, as society’s preferences shape which technologies are pursued and which of their potential uses are socially acceptable.
The question is then, what do we want these jobs of the future to look like?
[…] is a 25 minute presentation providing an overview of the report Reconstructing jobs (published in 2018) from the Edge Session just after the report was […]