Communications of the ACM
Why Automation Is Creating a Bigger Need for Humans In the Tech Sector
Automation is triggering seismic shifts. Machines are getting smarter and capable of executing more tasks. That is eliminating software jobs that involve repetitive work and basic coding. Want to create an app or build a website? These days there are tools such as WordPress and Squarespace that will do the coding for you.
"It's surprisingly easy to teach a machine how to program," says Alexandra Levit, the author of "Humanity Works: Merging Technologies and People for the Workforce of the Future." "What does that mean for tech jobs? It's not great. Tech people need to look at what they bring beyond hard tech skills."
A wide range of tech executives, recruiters, and educators say smarter machines won't translate into a smaller technology workforce in the future. Advanced engineering and technical skills will certainly be important, but it's technology workers with soft skills—think collaboration, communication, listening, empathy—whose stars are rising.
"People should learn to code, not to be coders but to understand how the machines run," says Brian David Johnson, resident futurist at Arizona State University's Center for Science and Imagination. "The other end [of the skill set spectrum] is fiercely collaborative, very human and empathetic. That is hard for technology. Being human is the one thing machines can't do."
From Portland Business Journal
View Full Article
No entries found