How Online Learning Can Help Us in the Automation Race

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September 12, 2019

If you search “will robots take my job” in your browser, you will find a website that lists the automation risk level for each occupation within two decades. This simple website is based on Carl Benedikt Frey and Michael Osborne's research. In the report “The Future of Employment: How susceptible are jobs to computerisation?”, they examined over 700 occupations in the US, using a Gaussian process classifier to estimate the probability of automation for those jobs.

Overall, the results showed that around 47% of US employment is at risk. Research adapted from this methodology for the UK showed that 35% of the UK’s current jobs could be replaced by machines and AI.

Our current situation, the technological revolution, is the industrial revolution of our time. In both revolutions, people feared losing their jobs to advancements in our society.

Will automation cause massive unemployment, or will new technologies create new opportunities and increased jobs? How can you prepare for these changes? What can you do if your occupation is under threat?

Competencies for the Future

To prepare for these changes, we need to adapt to the new labor market. According to the World Economic Forum Report 2018, new categories of jobs will emerge that will require reshaped competencies and upgraded skills.

“One job for a lifetime” is becoming a thing of the past. We now need to be prepared to take up several different occupations during our professional lives. By developing the right competencies, we can:

Adapt to new environments.
Be resilient to constant change.
Be open to different expectations.
Develop a high tolerance for failure.

The ability and willingness to learn new skills is one of the most important competencies. As stated in the Mckinsey Global Institute report, “even when some tasks are automated, employment in those occupations may not decline but rather workers may perform new tasks.”

New technologies will create new jobs, and we may actually face a great labor demand in the market. For example, development and deployment spending for new technologies is expected to increase by more than 50% by 2030. This could create 20 to 50 million jobs globally.

If we view this global change in jobs as an opportunity instead of a problem, it is not so frightening anymore. Although new jobs are a good thing, “up to 375 million workers may need to switch occupational categories.” To transition to new occupations, workers will need to be open to change and prepare for it by learning new skills.

What can you do to meet the demands of the market? How can you develop competencies for the future?

Learning Routine

Automation and AI development are inevitable, so workers must adapt. Ideally, employers and governments would support workers with training programs and relevant social policies. However, it’s not an ideal world, and you can get ahead of the game by preparing now.

eLearning is a great way to adapt and prepare for the future. It provides the opportunity to learn almost anything, anywhere, and at any time. The wide range of online courses offered continually grows, and new technologies are implemented to create learning solutions dedicated to different categories of users.

Online learning allows you to create a personalized learning path. You can decide when and how much time you will spend on developing new competencies. You can choose from platforms with various learning categories or select courses from online learning platforms focused on one category, such as programming (e.g. Vertabelo Academy).

Let's have a look at some of the competencies you can develop through eLearning to prepare for global changes in the labor market:

Upgrade both technical and soft skills.
Receive constructive feedback.
Learn self-discipline and take responsibility for your own work.
Open yourself to new areas of competencies with a wide range of online courses.
Improve your ability to learn quickly and adapt to change.
Become more comfortable with working online.

How to Outfox Machines and AI

Although AI will do most things better, more quickly, and more efficiently than humans can, we can be ready for the new possibilities it will create. We can remain in demand by adapting to new challenges. Being open to change and learning new skills will always be our greatest asset. One of the best ways to do this is through eLearning.

References:

Kamila Ostrowska

Kamila has been working in e-learning for three years, with an emphasis on adapting digital training methodologies to suit diverse learning styles. Kamila loves sailing, writing, reading, and taking long walks in the forest. Occasionally, Kamila grows nostalgic of the mountains she gave up in favor of sailing.