- AI is expected to take on tedious tasks and free up humans to do more creative work.
- This will make it more important for tech workers to be good at collaboration and communication.
- That’s bad news for tech workers who have thrived as brilliant lonely morons.
Whether or not it’s AI ends up stealing people’s jobsit is undeniable that the rise of technology which can automate many boring, tedious and mundane tasks will change the way we work.
With so much tedious work done automatically, employees will need to be more innovative and collaborative.
Experts say those who will get ahead in this new world will be those with strong people skills and who know how to bring teams together around an idea. This signals the end of one of tech’s most enduring stereotypes: the brilliant, lonely asshole nobody really likes to work with
Experts said those who can bring both the expertise in working with AI and the “soft skills” that make someone a good teammate are the ones who will thrive in an increasingly activated world. by AI.
“To build something great, you need collaboration and conversation in addition to data science to create and build the best technology,” said Diana Lee, founder of marketing firm Constellation. “What I notice about some data people is that they just want to cram so much data into a model without really understanding how it speaks to a problem.”
most AI fits into a workplacesuggested these experts, the more all workers can work with others to be creative in solving problems.
Lee gives the hypothetical example of his own company working with a larger brand on a marketing campaign. For the project to succeed, everyone – including technical staff like data scientists or backend programmers – must join. Those who take the time and effort to listen to the customer and work with them to ensure they are all on the same page will be the ones who stand out in the workplace.
That doesn’t leave much room for brilliant morons who struggle to treat their colleagues and customers with respect. They can be very smart, maybe even visionary, but with the AI handling a lot of the hard work, they risk losing whatever influence they had on the team.
“Employees are already experiencing rapid integration of AI into their daily lives and will need diverse and adaptive skills to navigate the landscape,” said Rajat Kohli, partner at digital consultancy Zinnov. “Currently, the most important skills enabled by AI are technical and soft skills.”
He added that artificial intelligence tools combined with interpersonal and collaboration skills are creating a more team-oriented culture in the workplace.
A different recruitment objective
While no one knows the future for sure, tech companies may at some point prioritize these types of people skills at the same level as coding excellence.
“As is traditionally the case when you hire a software engineer, the first thing you care about is their technical capability, which will always be true,” said Sheilin Herrick, solution manager, technology at HR Consulting SHL. “But I suspect that in the not-too-distant future, we’ll see a greater prominence of soft skills in the hiring process.”
She added skills such as the ability and willingness to learn, critical and strategic thinking, and the ability to work in teams will become important when adapting to working with ChatGPT and other IT tools. Similar AIs, Herrick said.
As Herrick explained, companies have three categories when evaluating potential employees. For tech companies, the biggest piece of the pie is readiness to take on the job, which includes coding skills, followed by potential and fit. These last two installments deal with the possibility of someone’s future growth in a company and how they will fit in with the rest of the team.
But as more repetitive tasks are taken overHerrick said companies would take this opportunity to reassess the emphasis they should place on hiring, especially if there is a need to collaborate and work in larger teams.
Tech employees, especially in startups, love to toss the word collaborative. And in an AI-powered workplace, true collaboration, communication, and knowing how to use the tools can move you forward.