AI for Schools: Looking to the jobs of the future

AI is disrupting companies, governments and non-profit organisations alike. Entire employment sectors are changing; and, within them, individual roles are shifting, too — with a growing emphasis on skills rather than jobs.

But, while robotics and automation, in past decades, mainly affected “blue collar” manufacturing jobs, AI is now shaking up more highly skilled white-collar roles. For example, it is altering the functions of — and the opportunities in — professions such as law and accountancy.

Like previous technologies, AI is creating new roles, as well, and revamping old ones: the roles of coders and “prompt engineers” are growing even as many more basic administrative tasks fade. Large language models and big data offer prospects to identify trends that humans can then interpret.

This series of FT articles highlights evolutions in the workplace. Precise predictions are difficult to make, but what is clear is that the future workforce will need to prepare for more frequent change and the need to reskill and retrain in response:

FT Series: Jobs of the Future

• ‘Oh gosh, I have to become a coder’: how employers are preparing the next generation workforce
  Technology, sustainability and shifting demographics will bring sweeping change to the labour market

• ‘Expectations will shift dramatically’: tech jobs move from science fiction to fact
  Roles in cutting-edge science and AI will grow in demand, but tech will transform all jobs

• New jobs, green jobs: planet-friendly roles dominate hiring
  Workers are retraining to take advantage of opportunities in sustainability and environmental roles