Opinion Today: Succeeding in the A.I. economy

Maybe the skills that make us human are the ones we should value.

View in browser|nytimes.com Continue reading the main story February 14, 2024 By Suein Hwang Business, Economics and Technology Editor, Opinion As the parent of two college-age students, I've watched this generation flock to pre-professional majors like computer science, engineering and financial analysis in the belief that the study of practical skills is the best path to a stable and high-paying career. But what happens when a new technology comes along that can acquire those skills for a small fraction of the cost? That's the critical question raised in a guest essay by Aneesh Raman, a work force expert at LinkedIn, and Maria Flynn, the president of the nonprofit Jobs for the Future. They argue that the advent of generative artificial intelligence marks a historic turning point for our economy and our society, one as important as the rise of the knowledge economy. They argue that the premium placed on technical skills will fade, leaving us with work that's anchored more in our uniquely human abilities. "The early signals of what A.I. can do should compel us to think differently about ourselves as a species. Our abilities to effectively communicate, develop empathy and think critically have allowed humans to collaborate, innovate and adapt for millenniums. Those skills are ones we all possess and can improve, yet they have never been properly valued in our economy or prioritized in our education and training," they write. "That needs to change." If they are right, maybe there's a future for humanities studies after all. Read the guest essay: Kate Dehler Guest Essay The A.I. Economy Makes Our Humanity More Important Than Ever A.I. will make a lot of technical skills obsolete, making the soft skills only humans are capable of executing more important. 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