But a funny thing is going to happen when the machines start taking the jobs of doctors, lawyers, stockbrokers, managers and professors. We’re not quite there yet, but the day is coming very soon when many of what had traditionally been considered untouchable jobs will be done just as effectively or better by machines. Diagnostics and radiology will be handled by machine, with basic examination and nursing work the most common medical professions. Humans won’t be needed for legal services beyond the courtroom and mediation room itself, computer programs will pick investments better than any human, employee evaluation and workforce structuring will be better assessed by analytics than by any middle manager, and mass online education programs will render teachers and professors little more than test proctors and homework readers. None of which assumes the actual intelligent robotic AI of science fiction, which is a whole other story and is also likely coming sooner than we think. Some people see this as utopia, some as dystopia. But either way, it’s coming and coming soon.
Have I mentioned that I own two teenagers, kids who are going to come of age at a moment when all bets are off when it comes to jobs and work and careers and…
I’m seriously interested in hearing from anyone out there that has changed their approach in terms of preparing kids for…for…for goodness knows what. I have this vague sense that cramming curriculum and demanding compliance isn’t the best way to help kids develop the mindsets and dispositions they need to think and create their way through what’s coming at us. Color me stressed, but if you think doing better on the Common Core and PISA is gonna make everything ok, think again.