“Teacher, will artificial intelligence take our jobs?”
I hear this sentence at least three times when I enter a seminar. Young people sitting in university desks, a slight concern in their eyes, a secret smile on the corner of their lips… Because they are actually wondering: “Teacher, we are still in the game, right?”
My response is a mischievous laugh: “Don’t worry, you are still in the game… but the rules have changed.”
Artificial Intelligence: Our New Neighbor
Most people still think of AI as a cold robot. But if you ask me, AI is our new neighbor. Someone we meet when we take out the garbage in the morning, someone we sometimes say hello to, someone we sometimes say “he talks too much”. But no matter what, it has entered our lives, it is there. Ignoring it is like denying the existence of an elevator in an apartment building.
And this neighbor is a bit strange: what he learns from us, he sells back to us! But if we know how to use it properly, it strengthens our hand, speeds up our work, and sometimes opens up unimaginable paths for us.
Human + Artificial Intelligence = New Creativity
This is where we humans come into play. I have been telling young people in lectures and seminars for years: “Information alone is no longer valuable, it is how you use it that matters.” Artificial intelligence offers us a rain of information, but it is up to us whether we hold an umbrella or not.
The real issue is to blend this technology with our own curiosity, humor and human side. Because artificial intelligence can draw a picture, but we are the ones who can look at that picture and say “oh, this reminds me of my childhood”.
So what does the future hold?
The future is not about dark, Matrix-like scenarios. On the contrary, the future will be a little more musical, a little more laughing. Because as artificial intelligence takes over the routines, we will be left to think, create and have fun. That’s why I see the future as more colorful, not boring.
Yes, some jobs will change, some professions will transform. But this transformation is not an end, it is a new invitation. The homework I give to my students in seminars is always the same: “Who do you want to build your future by dancing with? With humans, with machines, or with both?”
I’ve already answered: Both. Because the future is neither only human nor only machine. The future is a place where the two can take a coffee break side by side.
