Will smart robots take your job?

Technology in logistics is replacing jobs traditionally done by humans, the trend and will continue at a record pace for the foreseeable future. Many have grown accustomed to seeing this kind of thing in certain industries like manufacturing, healthcare, and logistics. But now, according Professor Edward D. Hess of the University of Virginia's Darden Graduate School of Business, technology will be coming for white collar jobs, too.

"Technology will be replacing more jobs at an ever-increasing pace, particularly with this next round of technology, which includes artificial intelligence. AI is the game changer," says Hess, author of a new book Learn or Die: Using Science to Build a Leading-Edge Learning Organization (Columbia Business School Publishing, 2014, ISBN: 978-0-231-17024-6, www.EDHLTD.com). "It is the biggest discovery since fire! It effectively threatens to wipe out a whole new group of jobs, including white collar positions."

His assertions are supported by a recent University of Oxford study that found over the next 10 to 20 years, of full two-thirds of U.S. employees have a medium-to-high risk of being displaced by smart robots and machines powered by artificial intelligence.

So, what can you do to keep your job?

"When the AI tech tsunami hits, the only jobs that will be safe are the ones that require a human element,” says Hess. “The things that humans will be able to do better than robots is creative, innovative, and complex critical thinking and engaging emotionally with other humans. You must take up your skills in these areas in order to make yourself more irreplaceable."

His advice on the skills sets that will strengthen employability in the rise of smart machines include:

• Overcome cognitive blindness. Humans have a problem when competing with smart machines. We are lazy, sub-optimal thinkers, Hess says. We seek to confirm what we already believe, and we tend not to be open-minded or rational. We take what we already know, replicate it, improve it, and repeat. It is easier than thinking critically or innovatively, but it makes us cognitively blind. You can overcome your cognitive blindness by strengthening your critical thinking.
• Get good at not knowing. We have to change our mindset about what being smart really is. In the technology-enabled world, how much you know will be irrelevant, because smart machines and the Internet will always know more than you. What will be more important is knowing what you don't know and knowing how to use best learning processes—in other words, the smartest people will be focused on continuously learning.
• "Quiet your ego," recommends Hess. Humilitywill help you really hear what your customers and colleagues are saying, and humility will help you be open-minded and more willing to try new ways. Don't be so consumed with being right—be consumed with constantly “stress testing” what you believe against new data. Treat everything you think you know as conditional, subject to modification by better data.
• Become an true collaborator. "The ability to collaborate effectively will be an essential skill in years to come," says Hess. "The powerful work connections that will be needed to build successful organizations will result from relationships that are built by authentically relating to another person, recognizing their uniqueness, and doing so in a respectful way that builds trust.

          "Artificial intelligence will in many ways make our lives better," says Hess. "But it will also challenge all of us to take our skills to a higher level in order to compete and stay relevant. We humans need to focus on continually developing the skills that are ours and ours alone."