Discussion
My sons in his last year of high school, we have an open event coming up at a collage he likes the look of, however he’s stumped as to what courses to take a look at, he’s concerned about A.I and its impact on jobs moving forwards in life.
He’s asked me for my advice and to be honest I’ll a little unsure myself, Electricians, plumbing, carpentry would be a safe bet I’d have thought, but to be honest I don’t see him In this line of work, possibly electrician.
I do feel sorry for him as he has great interest in I.T, but I can see that job market being over saturated as A.I improves.
I’m not asking for advice on what he should do as that’s ultimately for him to decide, but is anyone else in this position with their children?
He’s asked me for my advice and to be honest I’ll a little unsure myself, Electricians, plumbing, carpentry would be a safe bet I’d have thought, but to be honest I don’t see him In this line of work, possibly electrician.
I do feel sorry for him as he has great interest in I.T, but I can see that job market being over saturated as A.I improves.
I’m not asking for advice on what he should do as that’s ultimately for him to decide, but is anyone else in this position with their children?
A couple of thoughts.
Technological advances are always going to cause people to wonder whether their jobs will exist in the future. If you showed 1990s Excel to an accountant from the 1950s they’d likely have had similar worries about where their job would go. Ditto showing a 1980s Amstrad word processor to someone in the steno pool. So it’s about being adaptable and capable of embracing change.
Then, getting value from AI requires 2 things in my view. Firstly the ability to write effective prompts, and secondly the ability to critically review the outputs and determine whether they are plausible. A great deal of what AI spits out is in my experience horses
t or at very least dubious so being able to validate and interpet is crucial.
The sectors you’ve called out are arguably less susceptible to catastrophic disruption but adaptability is still probably the most important ability in my view. Imagine a 1950s electrician fitting a cloud enabled EV charger.
Just my $0.02
Technological advances are always going to cause people to wonder whether their jobs will exist in the future. If you showed 1990s Excel to an accountant from the 1950s they’d likely have had similar worries about where their job would go. Ditto showing a 1980s Amstrad word processor to someone in the steno pool. So it’s about being adaptable and capable of embracing change.
Then, getting value from AI requires 2 things in my view. Firstly the ability to write effective prompts, and secondly the ability to critically review the outputs and determine whether they are plausible. A great deal of what AI spits out is in my experience horses
t or at very least dubious so being able to validate and interpet is crucial. The sectors you’ve called out are arguably less susceptible to catastrophic disruption but adaptability is still probably the most important ability in my view. Imagine a 1950s electrician fitting a cloud enabled EV charger.
Just my $0.02
There are some other IT jobs which I think will remain, but I do think that people will need to know how to code even though AI may do the majority. The roles will be more functional ones e.g.
Enterprise Architect
Solution Architect
Functional Analyst
Cyber (particularly around training and education)
Odd pockets of other roles will also apply e.g. VIP helpdesk service
The thing is that the pace of change is so great that it's hard to look too far out. What I am sure of is that if you cannot use AI in your role, you will be replaced by people who are more efficient by using AI
Enterprise Architect
Solution Architect
Functional Analyst
Cyber (particularly around training and education)
Odd pockets of other roles will also apply e.g. VIP helpdesk service
The thing is that the pace of change is so great that it's hard to look too far out. What I am sure of is that if you cannot use AI in your role, you will be replaced by people who are more efficient by using AI
The way I look at it (with two teens & a toddler) is that if AI becomes so prevalent that it replaces all human workers then there will need to be some kind of universal income, or perhaps the elimination of money all together - in which case career prospects are no longer a concern. If not, then there will still be plenty of jobs, just potentially with the reduced soul-crushing paper-shuffling admin.
I'm still not convinced AI or robotics will be advanced enough to do the physical aspects of my job. The admin stuff yes, but the rest of it means I should at least survive 15-20 years until retirement.
But we may well have all been wiped out by then anyway.
I'm still not convinced AI or robotics will be advanced enough to do the physical aspects of my job. The admin stuff yes, but the rest of it means I should at least survive 15-20 years until retirement.
But we may well have all been wiped out by then anyway.
'IT' covers lots of different roles. Yes a lot of those roles will disappear with the use of AI. But AI can't install cabling and build racks and install data centres etc. AI can't visit sites and fix infrastructure problems.
So my advise, go down the hands on route, yes he will have to graft and won't be sitting behind a desk or shirking at home. It will be the hands-on workers that will be in demand going forward.
So my advise, go down the hands on route, yes he will have to graft and won't be sitting behind a desk or shirking at home. It will be the hands-on workers that will be in demand going forward.
Last year of high school presumably being 16/Yr11 rather than 18/yr13?
My daughter is a year older. 17, just gone into Year 13. Upper Sixth in old money - curve ball in that her school closed down at the end of her Year 12 so she's had to move schools for year 13. stshow. Thanks Labour/VAT/lack of regulation/incompetent governors.
BUT, don't try and pigeon hole a 16 yr old too soon. As others have said, study something he likes doing. On my daughter first day of sixth form, her plans were to go to Drama School at 18. We supported her wishes, but were quietly disappointed as she'd smashed her GCSEs (7x 9s 2x 8s).
Then she went into a Psychology lesson and just fell in love with the subject. 12 months on, the only University courses we're looking for next September are Psychology degrees. She's totally pivoted. She's been predicted A* A* A* at A-Level and so has the choice of whatever University she wants, she's so engaged in the subject, the onward career options it brings and already looking at an Msci or MSc immediately after doing a degree.
TL;DR: Let him do something he enjoys at 16. A great grade in his favourite subject is likely worth more than an average grade in something he dislikes. Don't overthink what jobs might or might no exists in XX years time.
My daughter is a year older. 17, just gone into Year 13. Upper Sixth in old money - curve ball in that her school closed down at the end of her Year 12 so she's had to move schools for year 13. s
tshow. Thanks Labour/VAT/lack of regulation/incompetent governors.BUT, don't try and pigeon hole a 16 yr old too soon. As others have said, study something he likes doing. On my daughter first day of sixth form, her plans were to go to Drama School at 18. We supported her wishes, but were quietly disappointed as she'd smashed her GCSEs (7x 9s 2x 8s).
Then she went into a Psychology lesson and just fell in love with the subject. 12 months on, the only University courses we're looking for next September are Psychology degrees. She's totally pivoted. She's been predicted A* A* A* at A-Level and so has the choice of whatever University she wants, she's so engaged in the subject, the onward career options it brings and already looking at an Msci or MSc immediately after doing a degree.
TL;DR: Let him do something he enjoys at 16. A great grade in his favourite subject is likely worth more than an average grade in something he dislikes. Don't overthink what jobs might or might no exists in XX years time.
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