A changed mission

There have been quite a few articles written by educators, urging operational AI education as a way for students to remain relevant in the work world. By “operational“ I mean the training of people in how to use AI tools in their daily work.  While, some of these articles do open the dialogue a bit wider by giving a passing acknowledgment to larger societal effects, most make the same mistake. There is no way to ensure employability in a post-AI world. We can’t operate as if society still offers equal opportunity to those willing to put in the effort. Indeed, it never did. 

Image from Chat GPT

While learning to incorporate AI tools into one’s professional workflow will be mandatory for those remaining in the workforce, obtaining those tools will not be an assurance of landing a job. Remember, the fundamental reason for corporations to integrate AI tools is to reduce the number of workers.

While most AI tools are not currently able to replace workers 1:1, they can significantly increase the productivity of nearly every worker today. Increases in individual productivity enable workers to replace multiple colleagues. This will result in a reduction in available jobs that is so large that it will fundamentally change society.

The mission of education is no longer solely to create workers. Deciding what it will be is the challenge that we should be spending our time on.