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Abstract: This article examines how artificial intelligence will fundamentally transform work and the human experience in the coming decades. Through a review of academic research, key trends are identified around the automation of job functions and changes to the skills required for work. Both opportunities and risks of AI's impacts on domains like education, healthcare, and social relationships are explored. The article argues that cultivating purpose at the individual and organizational levels will be critical for navigating ongoing technological disruption with resilience and adaptation. Specific strategies are recommended for personal and professional reinvention, with a focus on lifelong learning, diverse networking, and cultivating transferable soft skills. The overarching perspective taken is one of measured optimism that, with proactive leadership across all sectors of society, AI can enhance humanity if developed and applied responsibly.
The rise of artificial intelligence promises to transform how we live and work in unprecedented ways. While AI technologies offer exciting possibilities, they also carry risks that require careful attention and proactive steps. Based on my research and experience working with organizations across industries, I believe the impacts of AI can be harnessed for good if we center our efforts around cultivating purpose for both individuals and institutions.
Today we will outline the major changes AI is poised to bring about and discuss strategies for organizations and individuals to thrive amidst ongoing technological disruption.
The Workplace of the Future: Fewer Tasks but More Strategic Roles
AI has the potential to significantly alter the skills required for work. As machines assume routine physical and cognitive jobs, roles that emphasize uniquely human abilities like creativity, critical thinking and complex communication will become more highly valued (Frey and Osborne, 2017). While certain occupations may disappear altogether, new types of jobs not yet conceived will also emerge to tackle society's evolving needs.
Several trends are already underway. AI is automating tasks across industries, from following set formulas to analyze medical scans to driving vehicles along predetermined routes. This allows human employees to focus on more conceptual responsibilities that require flexibility, judgment and interpersonal skills. For instance, radiologists now spend less time on image analysis and more on collaboration with clinicians; delivery drivers are transitioning to management roles overseeing automated fleets.
As AI capabilities continue advancing, more job functions will become automated in phases. Repetitive administrative processes will be the first to go, with roles focused on strategic planning, complex problem-solving and building relationships among people being the hardest for AI to replace. However, the transition will raise challenges around retraining workers for new types of jobs. Organizations must proactively support their staff through this disruption by identifying transferable skills, providing educational opportunities and redesigning work accordingly (World Economic Forum, 2018).
AI and the Human Experience: New Threats But Also Opportunities
While AI will reshape work, it will also influence our personal lives and relationships in powerful ways. Some foresee a dystopian scenario where AI makes many activities like parenting, education and creative expression obsolete and dehumanizes interactions through overreliance on algorithms. However, if developed responsibly with human well-being in mind, AI could actually enhance our experience in several domains.
In education, AI has the potential to make learning more tailored, immersive and efficient by analyzing individual needs and strengths. While teachers will still be needed to foster critical-thinking and holistic growth, AI can handle rote instruction and free up educators for higher-impact roles. In healthcare, AI shows promise for more precise diagnoses, personalized treatment recommendations and remote patient monitoring to improve quality of life. For those facing mobility challenges, AI may provide new means of interacting with the physical world through robotics and other assistive technologies.
Of course, these opportunities also pose risks like increasing screen time among youth, erosion of user privacy and potential biases in AI systems that could worsen societal inequities (Crawford, 2016). To counter such issues, organizations should adopt principles of explainable and transparent AI, involve diverse participants in product design and deploy technologies carefully with oversight mechanisms. Overall, a future shaped thoughtfully with AI at the center of societal progress need not undermine what makes us human.
Cultivating Purpose: A Necessity for Individuals and Institutions
As AI disrupts work and daily life, finding purpose will become increasingly vital for well-being at both personal and organizational levels. Indeed, research links having strong reasons for getting up each day to better psychological and physical health outcomes (Steger et al., 2008).
For individuals, purpose provides intrinsic motivation and resilience during times of change. In the face of job disruptions or a shifting skillset, cultivating passions outside work through volunteering, civic participation or hobbies can bolster adaptive capacity and future employment opportunities. Organizations too must define their broader societal purpose beyond profit to inspire loyalty among employees and stakeholders navigating ongoing flux. Clarifying core missions tied to making a meaningful difference can stabilize partnerships and engagement amidst transformations in business models and work design brought on by technological advancement.
Overall, the future remains unwritten and aims to benefit from ongoing progress in AI. But steering its development proactively towards enhancing humanity instead of replacing it will require conscious effort from all sectors of society. With care and intention, AI's impacts can be channeled to open up new frontiers for human flourishing rather than leave many behind. By cultivating purpose at both individual and systemic levels, we can build the foundations to ensure technology complements our shared experience.
Strategies for Individuals: Enrich Your Sense of Purpose
Here are some specific recommendations for individuals seeking purpose in an automated world:
Develop Transferable Skills: Invest in learning abilities like critical thinking, complexity management and emotional intelligence that AI cannot easily replicate. These give adaptability for career pivots.
Find Passions Outside Work: Build fulfilling pursuits in areas like arts, sports, community service or family that provide intrinsic rewards independent of one's occupation.
Leverage Online Learning: Freely available massive open online courses (MOOCs) offer cost-effective ways to gain new technical qualifications or simply explore interests on your schedule.
Build Adaptive Networks: Nurture broad professional and personal relationships that provide insight into diverse industries or opportunities during career transitions. Look beyond your current organization.
Consider Self-Employment: As companies adopt more flexible workforce models, independent work like freelancing, consulting or small business ownership utilizing niche skills could complement the shift to portfolios of short-term work over long careers at single employers.
Strategies for Organizations: Foster Purpose and Adaptability
To help employees and the enterprise thrive with technological change, organizations should:
Clearly Define Core Mission: Articulate overarching purpose and values beyond quarterly targets to inspire commitment to the organization’s role in society.
Support Upskilling Initiatives: From subsidizing external courses to internal training programs, invest in developing versatile skills foreseen as enduringly valuable rather than just job-specific qualifications.
Rethink Work Models and Job Design: Experiment with more fluid, project-based structures over rigid roles. Empower autonomy and impact over micromanagement to engage a purpose-driven workforce.
Emphasize Resilience and Growth Mindsets: Foster cultures encouraging adaptability, curiosity and empowerment over fixed notions of capability. Spotlight professional “side-quests” and second acts.
Invest in Diverse and Equitable Outcomes: Proactive steps toward inclusive innovation and accessibility can ensure technologies complement diverse talents and ways of contributing value rather than marginalize any groups.
Conclusion: An Opportunity to Advance Human Potential
AI and automation portend profound workplace and societal disruptions, but need not diminish humanity if approached with care, wisdom and intention. By cultivating purpose at both individual and institutional levels and emphasizing lifelong adaptability and learning, we can establish robust foundations for personal growth and organizational agility amidst ongoing technological progress.
Rather than a threat, AI offers an unprecedented chance to reimagine productivity, relationships and well-being. With proactive leadership from all sectors prioritizing responsible development and complementary implementation of emerging technologies, the human experience can be enriched in new and unexpected ways. Overall, if guided by our shared hopes of enhancing lives and bringing out the best in one another, the rise of AI presents us an opportunity to unlock unprecedented human potential. The future, while uncertain, remains ours to shape.
References
Frey, C. B., & Osborne, M. A. (2017). The future of employment: How susceptible are jobs to computerisation? Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 114, 254–280. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2016.08.019
World Economic Forum. (2018, January). The future of jobs report 2018. World Economic Forum. http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Future_of_Jobs_2018.pdf
Crawford, K. (2016). Artificial intelligence's white guy problem. NYTimes. https://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/26/opinion/sunday/artificial-intelligences-white-guy-problem.html
Steger, M. F., Kashdan, T. B., & Oishi, S. (2008). Being good by doing good: Daily eudaimonic activity and well-being. Journal of Research in Personality, 42(1), 22–42. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrp.2007.03.004
Additional Reading
Westover, J. H. (2024). Optimizing Organizations: Reinvention through People, Adapted Mindsets, and the Dynamics of Change. HCI Academic Press. doi.org/10.70175/hclpress.2024.3
Westover, J. H. (2024). Reinventing Leadership: People-Centered Strategies for Empowering Organizational Change. HCI Academic Press. doi.org/10.70175/hclpress.2024.4
Westover, J. H. (2024). Cultivating Engagement: Mastering Inclusive Leadership, Culture Change, and Data-Informed Decision Making. HCI Academic Press. doi.org/10.70175/hclpress.2024.5
Westover, J. H. (2024). Energizing Innovation: Inspiring Peak Performance through Talent, Culture, and Growth. HCI Academic Press. doi.org/10.70175/hclpress.2024.6
Westover, J. H. (2024). Championing Performance: Aligning Organizational and Employee Trust, Purpose, and Well-Being. HCI Academic Press. doi.org/10.70175/hclpress.2024.7
Citation: Westover, J. H. (2024). Workforce Evolution: Strategies for Adapting to Changing Human Capital Needs. HCI Academic Press. doi.org/10.70175/hclpress.2024.8
Westover, J. H. (2024). Navigating Change: Keys to Organizational Agility, Innovation, and Impact. HCI Academic Press. doi.org/10.70175/hclpress.2024.11
Jonathan H. Westover, PhD is Chief Academic & Learning Officer (HCI Academy); Chair/Professor, Organizational Leadership (UVU); OD Consultant (Human Capital Innovations). Read Jonathan Westover's executive profile here.
Suggested Citation: Westover, J. H. (2024). How AI Will Reshape Work and the Human Experience: Embracing Purpose in an Automated World. Human Capital Leadership Review, 15(1). doi.org/10.70175/hclreview.2020.15.1.14
