The rapid rise of robotics and other forms of advanced IT means that many currently valued workplace skills are destined to become obsolete and that ‘softer’, people skills will come into their own.

That was the message from futurologist Ian Pearson at the annual conference of the Institute of Internal Communication (IoIC) on 14th May at the Carden Park Hotel near Chester. He predicted that robots would be as intelligent as people by 2015, and 100 times more intelligent by 2020, with the progress of laptop capabilities following a similar pattern.

The only area in which artificial intelligence would lag behind humans for some years to come was interactional skills, for example, the ability to bond, build rapport with and counsel others. For this reason, he contended that it was highly developed face-to-face communication skills that would be at a real premium in the future, while the human as ‘smart machine’ would no longer be required.

As women had traditionally been strong in relation to emotional intelligence, he envisaged that this change of emphasis would have a significant impact in terms of helping them rise to more senior positions and break down any glass ceilings. There would also be more opportunities for older people, as interactional skills increase as people age.

He argued that by 2020, with globalisation reducing most people to a commodity and machine intelligence eroding the value of most commodity level skills, only about one percent of the population would stand out in terms of their creative capabilities and, therefore, be in considerable demand from employers.

Evolving technology will also make for very different workplaces. Much greater portability of devices will mean that traditional office spaces with desks and computers will be replaced by meeting places that double as work and social environments.

He said that other developments would include: miniaturisation that brings everyday IT down to lapel-pin size; direct inter-device networking that becomes an important alternative to the web; context-aware contact lenses and video visors on which relevant information appears as the wearer moves around.

Pearson stressed that individuals’ ability to survive in this fast-changing environment would be inextricably linked to their ability and willingness to adapt.

20 May 2010

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