On ChatGPT as part of our future workplace

Over the past months, it’s hard to think about the future of education and not consider how AI fits into it.

K-12 teachers have fretted over whether homework is dead. College professors are worried the essay as assignment is a turn-of-the-century relic.

ChatGPT (and its improved future versions and competitors) will generate essays, answers to problem sets, and even help with brainstorming.

Kevin Roose, in an opinion piece for the New York Times, makes a good case for embracing AI in education rather than trying to fruitlessly fight it.

If school is (at least in part) about preparing students for the world, then Roose argues we are doing them a disservice (and larger society, too) by trying to make school an AI-free zone.

After all, it won’t be long before ChatGDT and other tools find roles in our workplaces.

The discourse on AI and work has focused on how AI may replace existing jobs. What I haven’t seen discussed is how the remaining jobs will change.

It’s not as if AI coworkers will simply slot in at the desks of fired coworkers—the remaining roles will be asked to do more with the help of AI.

Roose points out that working effectively with AI will be a valuable skill in the not too-distant future—so why would schools pretend it doesn’t exist?

Roose highlights teachers who are leveraging ChatGPT to build their lesson plans, develop quizzes, and even introducing it to students as a tool to help their writing, using it to help build essay outlines.

The forward-thinking attitude some schools have shown in the face of mounting evidence that AI will be more and more a part of our lives is not one I’ve seen shared in my industry.

That’s odd, because A/E/C will be especially susceptible to the introduction of AI in the workplace, given the often repetitive design work that happens as part of project design.

AI will also impact my job as a marketer—basic content writing and InDesign/PowerPoint layout are tasks that AI could easily take over.

An inflection point is coming in our work lives, and we need to recognize the skills that will have value in our roles once other core skills are delegated to AI.

One of those skills? Figuring out how to work with AI effectively.