When You Grow Up, You Might Not Have A Job

 

Masterclass for Emerging Literacies

To discuss the future of work and AI’s impact on jobs.

Key Takeaways

• AI’s Threat to Jobs: AI’s ability to hack human biology (emotions, decisions) and its non-human advantages (connectivity, updatability) threaten even creative and cognitive roles, not just physical ones.

• The “Useless Class”: A new class of people may emerge who are economically redundant, not just from job loss but from a lack of emotional stamina to cope with constant retraining and career volatility.

• The Human Edge: Jobs requiring complex motor skills, empathy (e.g., nursing, caregiving), and dealing with unforeseen scenarios are more resistant to automation.

• New Session Format: The session is now a direct-link meeting with no registration, simplifying access. Recordings and notes are on the My Good School YouTube channel.

Topics

New Session Format

• Access: Direct-link meeting, no registration required.

• Rationale: To simplify access and focus on engagement over data collection.

• Resources:

  • Recordings & Notes: My Good School YouTube channel.

  • Weekly Newsletter: GSI.in.

  • Certificates: Available for ₹3000 via separate registration.

The Future of Work (Chapter 2: 21 Lessons for the 21st Century)

• The Automation Debate:

  • Pessimistic View: Automation will create mass economic redundancy.

  • Optimistic View: Automation will create more jobs, as in past industrial revolutions.

• AI’s New Capabilities:

  • Hacking Humans: AI is learning to understand and manipulate human emotions and decisions by analysing biochemical patterns (facial expressions, voice, body odour).

  • Non-Human Advantages:

    • Connectivity: All AI units can be linked into a single network, enabling perfect coordination and communication.

    • Updatability: The entire network can be updated instantly with new information (e.g., traffic laws, medical research).

• The “Useless Class”:

  • Problem: New AI-related jobs (e.g., data analysts) require high expertise, leaving unskilled workers behind.

  • Analogy: The 19th-century wagon driver became a taxi driver, but the horse was pushed out of the job market entirely.

  • Emotional Toll: Constant retraining and career volatility can lead to a “global epidemic of stress,” creating a class of people lacking the emotional stamina to cope.

Human-AI Collaboration & Competition

• Collaboration: Humans can service and leverage AI, creating new roles (e.g., drone maintenance, data analysis).

• Competition: AI’s rapid learning and creativity are surpassing human capabilities.

  • AlphaZero Example: In 2017, Google’s AlphaZero program learned chess from scratch in 4 hours and defeated Stockfish 8, the world’s computer chess champion.

  • Implication: AI is already demonstrating creativity that judges in human tournaments suspect is computer-generated.

Educational Framework: 4 C’s + 2 C’s

• Traditional 4 C’s: Critical Thinking, Creativity, Collaboration, Communication.

• Proposed 2 C’s: Character and Citizenship.

• Rationale: The 4 C’s are tools for building Character (perseverance, resilience, honesty) and Citizenship (engaging with diverse values for sustainability). Without these foundational qualities, the 4 C’s are ineffective.

Next Steps

• All Participants: Reflect on the key statements shared in the WhatsApp group and post comments.

• All Participants: Review the session recording and notes on the My Good School YouTube channel.

• All Participants: Join the next session on Saturday, August 1, at the bookmark shared in the WhatsApp group.

Schools Can Change: Manish Sisodia and Anjuli Bhargava

A society cannot progress unless it offers equal opportunities to all and to do that, education provided by the state school system must be on a par with the best on offer privately. Quality education has so far been the privilege of a few in India.

Delhi’s education sector in 2015 – when his party came to power - resembled a giant black hole. Barring the odd exceptions - a few Kendra Vidyalaya and Rajkiya Pratibha Vikas Vidyalaya - the city’s public school system (1029 schools under Delhi government) was broken mainly, and schools were in pathetic shape. Cobwebs in classrooms and crumbling infrastructure were only one part of the story. Demotivated teachers and low morale of students added to the gloom and doom. It was not uncommon to find teachers spending their time knitting, eating peanuts, playing cards or even absent, filling their day with paid home tuitions also as they drew their monthly salary,

Almost as soon as it took charge, AAP set itself the task of filling the hole. It began by fixing broken fans, desks, chairs and classrooms, building toilets, adding blackboards, removing cobwebs and making the space more habitable. School after the school was examined and painstakingly refurbished. Before asking the teachers to perform, the semblance of a school had to be established.

In the second phase, it started to tackle some of the deeper malaise. Government schools have teachers who are high on skill but low on will. In a system that fails to reward merit, how does one ensure performance? Moreover, parents who are often illiterate or barely literate see little value in the education received in the state schools. How does one change that? These were some of the aspects of focus in the next phase of reform.

Deputy chief minister of Delhi Manish Sisodia elaborated on his government’s efforts so far, the results and plans for the future in a detailed conversation with Anjuli Bhargava.