Skills You Need To Save Your Job From Robots

Nowadays, automated teller machines, auto-check in kiosks in airports and self service checkouts at supermarket are commonplace. However, these automated tasks do not provide human experience. According to studies by Oxford University researchers Carl Frey and Michael Osborne, half of jobs we know will disappear in 10-15 years. Automation and less demanding work can be delegated to robots. This will give us time to do more thinking and be more innovative. Giving automated jobs will also help save companies approximately $12 trillion globally from wages and redeployment. The future of work is starting to look very different. But don’t worry because not all jobs are fit for robots. Here are some skills you need to save your jobs from robots.

Effective Collaboration

Robots are built for automatic jobs. In factories for example, robots are programmed to do a specific job repetitively. While they are very effective at what they do, robots do not collaborate with each other. There are robots that work together but they cannot be considered as a team and they cannot build collaborative relationships with each other. They are independent and need to be programmed in a way so that they can do a specific job that complements each other.

Humans on the other hand have the freedom not only to work with each other but to effectively work in a team while building a collaborative relationship.

Management

Can you imagine a robot managing other robots? Giving them orders to a team of robots with different programming? While this is highly possible in the future, our technology is not that advanced yet. Robots still cannot manage other robots and tell them what to do without human interference.

Robots also cannot manage a diverse group of robots. Humans on the other hand know how to manage a group that has different backgrounds. They know how to communicate with diplomacy and react to different situations.

Social Intelligence

Robots are built to work. They don’t socialize and have no need to. Getting on well with others is needed if you’re the leader. Robots don’t need social intelligence because they can work well with others even if they don’t want to because they’re programmed that way. Humans pick up cues from non-verbal language, tone of voice and facial expression. So far, no robot can do this.

Creativity

No matter how advanced the AI, it cannot learn to be creative. Robots are limited by their programming. They have no curiosity or have no need to explore or discover new things. Robots also have no appreciation of art, music or culture. As such, robots cannot “think outside the box” therefore they can only function the way they are intended.

Critical Thinking

The ability to think deeply or critical thinking is a very important skill. It is needed for troubleshooting and decision-making. This skill set leads to better judgment and management. Humans can ask better questions and know how to seek validation and verification of what we’ve learned.

It is perhaps this skill that humans surpass robots because this cannot be taught. Critical thinking is developed through experience. Humans become good at thinking outside the box through cause and effect. With each different result, humans learn how to react accordingly. Robots cannot do this because even with advanced AI, they cannot be programmed to react differently for each different situation as it arises.

Robots and humans co-exist in this world. While a world full of robot workers is fast becoming a reality, it cannot be denied that humans are needed in this planet and cannot be replaced completely even in the work environment.

Despite about AI, humans are still a company’s best asset. In fact, humans are 2.33 times more valuable than all other assets and capital combined. If you want to keep working in an increasingly automated work, develop these skill sets to make yourself indispensable to your company.