The Bald Futurist Prepares Whitman for the AI Age
Does the thought of AI give you nightmarish flashbacks of “The Terminator” or have you been anticipating the day you can zip across town like George Jetson? Either way, Steve Brown has the solutions to “Robot-proof” your career path.
Brown, aka the Bald Futurist, brings his insights about the collision humans will have with what he refers to as “the technology tsunami” to Olin Hall with “The Future of Work” on Thursday Nov. 1 at 7 p.m. The event is free and open to the Walla Walla community.
“In my experience most people remain afraid of AI, but they don’t need to be. I get it, it’s natural to be afraid of something that you don’t fully understand,” Brown said. “Especially when science fiction writers and Hollywood producers have done such a fabulous job entertaining us with dystopian stories, but we shouldn’t let these movies make us afraid of technological advancement.”
There are plenty of jobs that are robot-proof, he said.
As technology advances AI will automate a considerable number of tasks in the coming decades. However, jobs that require a human to human connection – such as those that involve high-level thinking, imagination, empathy, interpersonal communication, leadership, and entrepreneurial skills – won’t be easily automated.
“Robot-proof jobs will require skillsets that remain the unique province of humans, namely the soft skills,” Brown said. “To become and remain robot-proof, double down on your own humanity,”
So, what does this mean for the student of the future?
The days of getting a degree and being done with education for the duration of your life is over, Brown said. Students will most likely return to college several times throughout their career to retrain or develop new skills, which will help them keep a competitive edge.
“Educators will need to embrace technology as a way to reimagine pedagogy, and also to dramatically reduce the cost of delivering a high-quality education,” he said.
Brown is a speaker, author, strategist and advisor with over 30 years of experience in the high-tech industry. He has been featured on CNN, BBC, Bloomberg TV, CBS, ABC News, and many other media outlets.
“AI will help us find cures for chronic diseases like cancer and Alzheimer’s, it’ll help us to develop new materials, and it may help us better understand the secrets of the universe,” Brown said. “Ultimately, it’ll elevate human work, enabling us to focus on higher-level tasks that create more meaning in our lives.”
Whitman Newsroom 2018
