AI is all anyone can talk about, whether it’s about the tech taking our precious jobs or what the future looks like with our robot overlords.
But is any of this true?
AI isn’t going anywhere anytime soon, so we decided to sit down with some technology leaders from digital communications company Cisco to ask the dumb questions about AI, so you don’t have to.
The first question I asked, which is on everybody’s mind is:
Will AI take my job?
We often fear that robots are about to take over and do our jobs, but how true is that?
Ben Dawson, VP of Australia and NZ at Cisco, said we don’t need to worry about losing our jobs to AI. Phew!
He likens the rise of AI to that of the internet back in the 90s.
“I’m old enough to remember in the late ’90s, early 2000’s the dot com boom, the hype cycle and [the internet] was going to replace everyone’s jobs,” he said.
“And now you think about how pervasive the internet is in our lives today. It’s impacted every part of society, every part of our personal lives, every industry, every business has embraced the internet in ways that we did not expect or could never have anticipated.”
“I don’t see mass unemployment result from AI, I think we will adapt,” he added.
Wait, so some jobs will go?
Yes, some jobs will be replaced by AI, but think of it as the same as how the growth of the internet has replaced skillsets and roles. Sadly, journalism is a great example of this.
Carl Solder, chief technology officer ANZ at Cisco, puts it blankly, “Will AI replace people? No, at this point in time, people with AI will replace people without AI.”
Okay, so what skills do I need?
Regardless if you want to work in tech or the arts, AI is going to be so pervasive that it will impact every industry.
“Whether you work in operations, whether you work in communication, whether you work in marketing, or you’re in PR, or you’re in tech, or this is not just a technical conversation, this is an everybody conversation,” Julie Canepa, CX director at Cisco said.
If you want a career where you’re a diva deep in AI systems, there is a particular set of skills that could help you nab a job in that area. Dawson named two areas that will help you be more employable, data and analytics and psychology.
AI? That’s noice! (Credit: Kath & Kim)
“Having an understanding of data science analytics because that’s what fuels AI. It’s effectively a clever way to analyse data and apply it in some cool way,” he said.
“The second is psychology, what we’re trying to do is make machines and models think, act, behave and interact more like humans. People who understand data analytics and understand psychology could be well placed to either design AI things or help organisations take advantage of it.”
How can I use ChatGPT properly?
If you’re using a chat model, like ChatGPT, for the love of Bill Gates not give it your details or information that could be used against you like credit card numbers and addresses.
Solder said we need to have our wits about when getting answers from a GPT tool, and not taking it as gospel.
“You ask it a question, it’s going to give you a response. In some respects, it’s no different to asking someone an opinion you might ask and you might ask friends, you might ask peers questions, and then you’re going to formulate your own opinion from there,” he explained.
Do I need to be more cyber secure?
When you’re using AI, there is no new threat to your cyber safety but Solder said we need to be vigilant when using this tech, like any other platform.
“You’ve got to be a little bit more heightened in terms of your awareness of how these forms of compromise might come into play,” he explained.
But he does recommend some things you should do to ensure you’re safe when using AI tools online.
Firstly, he said people should be updating their phone when the update is available.
“You need to upgrade because they are plugging and patching holes and vulnerabilities in your systems that threat actors might look to use to compromise,” he explained.
“It’s changing your passwords frequently. It’s using multi-factor authentication. It is upgrading your software. All these simple things are gonna provide a better base for you to be protected against some kind of compromise.”
Ultimately, these three bigwigs express their optimism more than their pessimism. Yes, some menial jobs will be binned but new jobs will be created due to AI.
So don’t worry guys, your job is safe for another day!
Athina Mallis travelled to Cisco Live 2024 in Melbourne as a guest of Cisco Live.
The post Is AI Coming For Your Job? I Asked The Tech Experts The Dumb Questions So You Don’t Have To appeared first on PEDESTRIAN.TV .
