How to Keep Your Job or Business While Everyone Else Loses Theirs to A.I.

Lets talk about staying adaptable and proactive.

This blog post brings together key insights from a couple of my presentations on navigating AI's impact on business and the workplace, offering a structured guide on making the most of AI advancements.

Embracing Change: The Pathway to Resilience

The first step in safeguarding your career or business against the tide of automation is to embrace change. Historically, technological advancements, like those during the Industrial Revolution (the Luddites), have been met with resistance. However, instead of replacing jobs outright, automation and AI often just shift the nature of work, creating new opportunities while phasing out certain tasks. This evolution can lead to a polarization of job markets, with increases in both high and low-income roles, but a squeeze on middle-income jobs. This nature of innovation and productivity is one of the reasons we hear about the "destruction" of the middle class. To navigate this, developing a mindset geared towards adaptability, reskilling, and continuous learning is paramount.

Skills for the Future: Automation-resistant and In-demand

Certain skills are inherently resistant to automation, broadly categorized into two groups.

The first is skilled labor, and includes abilities like:

1. problem-solving

2. intuition

3. creativity

4. persuasion

These are what's highly valued in the job market. The second group is more unskilled labor, and encompasses skills such as:

1. situational adaptability

2. visual and language recognition

3. and in-person interaction

This includes lower skill jobs like fast food and security, etc. While the latter may not see substantial wage growth, integrating those skills with the first group's skills can create a competitive advantage, and higher than average pay.

The Urgency of Reskilling

The necessity of reskilling is more critical now than ever in the changing job market. Overall, it's emphasizing the importance of acquiring a blend of flexible, judgment-based, and common sense skills (according to the research). Remember that list. At the top, there's a premium on inductive reasoning, communication, and expert mastery of course, all of which contribute to higher earnings and job security. These are paid the most.

Leveraging AI Tools: Free and Paid Options

AI tools, such as chatbots, image generators, and AI-powered scheduling tools, and a host of others like editing and marketing apps, offer significant opportunities for productivity and creativity enhancement.

Free Tools

-ChatGPT: even the free version can be a very powerful tool to do any kind of writing or programming, especially if you know what you're doing.

- Google AI Tools: A suite of AI and machine learning tools for various applications.

- Canva's Magic Write: Assists in generating content within the Canva design platform.

- Otter.ai: Provides a basic plan for real-time transcription services, enhancing productivity.

Paid Tools

- Descript: Advanced video and audio editing with AI capabilities.

- Replica Studios: AI-driven voice acting services for realistic voiceovers.

- Jasper: An AI content platform for generating high-quality written content.

-Lumen5: Lumen5 is a video creation platform that uses AI for video creation, reworking textual content into engaging video content and enhancing social media storytelling and engagement. Its differentiators are video automation, AI-driven storyboarding and social media integration.

This is just a teaser. There are hundreds if not thousands of options out there, many of them free. Just Google your business task and add "AI" at the end to discover some options that can really improve your workflow, product or service.

Monitoring for New Tools

Setting up web notifications for new AI tool releases through technology blogs and websites can help you stay ahead of the curve. Futurepedia is a great place to look:

Find newsletters that speak to your niche and AI. This proactive approach ensures you are always equipped with the latest tools to enhance your work. Here's a good, recent list:

Developing Advanced Technical Skills

For those interested in deeper technical expertise, exploring data science and AI skills through both degree programs and certification courses is advisable. This approach, coupled with an ongoing commitment to learning, can open doors to advanced careers in the field. In a day and age where the wisdom of a four-year degree is in question, higher learning in AI is still a solid investment, now more than ever.

Choosing between degree programs and certification courses should be based on your career goals, available resources, and the specific skills you aim to acquire. Additionally, honing job interview skills and staying abreast of the latest industry trends are crucial steps in this journey. Contact me if you'd like some resources for that.

A.I. For Small Business

Here's a few ways A.I. can improve a small business, that I'll cover in another post: customer segmentation, recommender system, forecasting, advanced chatbots and more.

Here's a great post that explains how you can collect data on your customers:

Surf that if you don't have customer data at all. Collecting and analyzing customer data is crucial for any business aiming to employ AI. This process involves automatically sifting through vast amounts of customer data—such as browsing behavior (clicks), purchase history, and personal information—to identify distinct groups within the market and power your solutions.

In Brief

There's no need to be afraid of the change that's coming, that's already here. By developing a combination of soft skills resistant to automation, embracing continuous learning, and leveraging the latest AI tools, professionals and business owners can not only secure their positions but thrive in the changing landscape. Feel free to reach out. I can help you in that transition with these and more action items for success. I offer training and/or custom AI solutions to fit your needs.

Remember, the future belongs to those who are prepared to adapt, learn, and grow. Getting good with these AI tools and making them work for you is easier than you think.

Just reach out I'll tell you about it on a free phone call.