There’s a lively debate underway about the impact artificial intelligence will have on the workplace, from worries about a “job apocalypse” at one extreme to a shorter workweek at the other. It’s too early to know how it will play out, but one thing is clear: AI will require most everyone to learn new skills—and quickly.
Retraining, reskilling, upskilling, and AI-aware professional development are the new norm in many jobs, from entry-level to senior executives. Maybe I shouldn’t say “new norm” because workers have been down this career path many times before. When telephone operators were displaced by switching systems 100 years ago, they branched into new areas like directory assistance and customer service. Similar transitions happened in printing plants, branch banks, and elsewhere as new technologies transformed the workplace.
