As we look towards our students’ futures, it's becoming increasingly clear that there are certain skills that will be more valuable than others as automation and artificial intelligence continue to grow in power and complexity.
Firstly, emotional intelligence, or EQ, is crucial. This means being able to understand and manage your own emotions, as well as the emotions of others. In an AI-driven future, where technology will take over many routine tasks, the ability to connect with and empathize with others will be more important than ever. But its not just EQ on its own that will distinguish people from others. Read on to see the other qualities that will be important.
Secondly, critical thinking is essential. This means the ability to analyze information, evaluate arguments, and make sound judgments based on evidence. As machines will increasingly be able to process and spit out vast amounts of information and provide recommendations, the temptation to use this information at face value will be highly tempting and all too commonplace. The ability to think critically and independently of this data-driven system will be crucial and highly valued.
Thirdly, creativity, or the ability to generate new ideas, approaches, and solutions to problems, will continue to grow. Though our AI tools will be able to come up with solutions to problems that we may never even dream of, the ability to put these ideas into practice with a high intelligence for systemic change will be highly valued. This will also require a generous dose of ingredient #1, emotional intelligence to navigate the human challenges along the way.
Fourthly, cultural competence is seen as crucial. This means being able to understand, appreciate, and effectively communicate with people from diverse cultural backgrounds. In the AI future, where technology will increasingly connect people from all over the world, the ability to work effectively with people from different cultures will be essential. Again, it is the EQ that shows up here as a key component.
Finally, technological literacies in areas like data, security, and how all forms of AI work, will be some of the most important skills in the AI future. However, it likely will not require the same skills people are using now. Leadership and ethics, strategy and wholistic thinking will grow in importance over clerical tasks and coding. No matter what field our children end up in, they will be able to get far more done and have rewarding careers and lives if they can understand both technology and the people with whom they work.
Learn more from these article sources:
weforum - future of jobs report
entrepreneur - EQ is the future of work
Ottawa University - Cultural Competence
Great overview, Kevin! I like how you emphasize the growing importance of leadership and ethics, strategy and wholistic thinking to technological literacy.
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Latest comment 2023-05-16T10:28:44+08:00 by Kevin Crouch