This article first appeared in Digital Edge, The Edge Malaysia Weekly on June 24, 2024 - June 30, 2024

The rise of artificial intelligence (AI) has sparked concerns about its potential to replace human expertise. However, a recent report by Citi GPS: Global Perspectives and Solutions emphasises a different future, one of human-machine collaboration. This collaborative approach leverages AI’s strengths to augment human capabilities, fostering significant productivity gains.

The report, titled “What machines can’t master: Human skills to thrive in the age of AI”, states that in five years, all team members would have embedded AI as colleagues, where human-AI collaboration would be the norm.

AI represents a digital talent assistant, streamlining repetitive tasks and enabling a shift towards more strategic and intellectually stimulating work outcomes, states the report. Today, that means skills that are additive to the current capabilities of AI are adaptability, critical thinking, emotional quotient or emotional intelligence (EQ), cultural sensitivity, bias mitigation, ethics, digital literacy and creativity.

In this scenario, experts predict that EQ, creativity and ethics will become highly valued. It is important to note, however, that these skills are not exclusively human. According to the report, while evolutionary changes in our brain biology take thousands of years, AI innovation advances at a rapid pace.

In 10 years, AI’s creativity, ethics and strategic skill set will be well beyond our imagination today. So, what skills might be critical as we look to our AI-infused future?

Key findings from the interview with over 28 experts in the report say that heart skills, which include communication, EQ, empathy and human-to-human (H2H) collaboration, are mentioned significantly more than other skills.

Over 64% of interviewees (18 out of 28) stressed communication, encompassing negotiation and social articulation skills. Digital literacy was also crucial, with over 54% in agreement. Other cognitive skills like critical thinking, creativity and problem-solving are often mentioned as the skills that will gain more importance in an AI world.

Given that there are many skills in the Durable Human Skill (DHS) bucket, which is a group of skills that would be difficult for AI to replicate, the report arranged them into three primary categories: hand, head and heart.

Many blue-collar skills such as dexterity fall under the hand category. Human-centric skills such as empathy, communication, H2H collaboration and leadership fall under the heart category.

The head category has three subcategories — cognitive, change and digital. The change section includes skills such as creativity and adaptability; the cognitive section includes critical thinking and organisation; and the digital section is about literacy and human-to-machine (H2M) collaboration.

In addition, adaptability and learning stand out as core skills mentioned by many interviewees. Both the private and public sectors agree that most of the skills that will matter more in an age of AI are communication, EQ, literacy and empathy.

The private sector emphasises more in the change category, including adaptability and learning ability, whereas the public sector focuses on dexterity and cognitive skills like problem-solving.

The report notes how companies, the education sector and society as a whole should prepare for an AI world. For instance, companies should focus on skilling, which involves strategic identification of current skills, future needs and gap planning.

Upskilling and reskilling require investments of both cost and time. A LinkedIn survey stated in the report found only 52% of employees feel their manager encourages the use of work time to learn new skills. This further strengthens the point that upskilling is essential to promote a supportive culture.

For instance, Piers Linney, executive chairman and co-founder of Implement AI, who was also one of the interviewees, suggests that investing in employee development through training programmes, workshops and access to learning resources can enhance adaptability and creativity.

“Businesses should also encourage cross-disciplinary projects that allow workers to develop and apply new skills in diverse settings, promoting a more resilient workforce. A talent acquisition strategy will drive a need to augment workforces with AI to automate the mundane so that the talent can focus on more meaningful work,” he says.

Moreover, informal training through mentorship is common, yet nearly half of workers feel unprepared for the future, and only 52% say their managers encourage skill development. Experts suggest, however, that a learning culture embracing experimentation and failure fosters growth.

Experts also warn that automation may de-skill critical thinking and leadership paths. “Companies must balance this by fast-tracking apprenticeships, increasing accreditation and emphasising ongoing professional development,” states the report.

In addition, the report suggests curricula need to change in the direction of DHS that AI cannot do. This includes integrating AI and technology education across disciplines; emphasising critical thinking, creativity and EQ in teaching methods; and fostering a problem-solving approach to learning. Partnerships with industry can provide practical experience and insight into the evolving demands of the job market.

Experts also note that universities should become multiversities to enable lifelong learning, with flexible, agile and short courses on topics that the industry cares most about. Degrees could be unbundled into more bite-sized, stackable micro-credentials or nano degrees to adapt better in an AI future.

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