Partnerships Manager at ALX Enterprise, Edward Akane, has said that Artificial intelligence (AI) is unlikely to completely replace human workers, but people who fail to learn new skills and adapt to changing technology could find themselves losing their jobs.
Speaking on the Joy FM Super Morning Show on Monday, September 14, Akane said the future of work would depend largely on how well workers combine their existing expertise with emerging AI tools.
He said that while he was not convinced that AI would replace humans altogether, he believed workers who refused to adapt to technological changes could eventually become less relevant in the job market.
“The conversation around whether AI will replace humans? I sit on the fence that AI will not replace humans because humans have that insight, that skill that technology cannot replace,” he said.
“However, what would be relevant is the humans that are able to complement AI with the skills that they have.”
According to Mr Akane, the skills required go beyond simply knowing how to use AI. Workers must combine technology with their professional knowledge and ability to think creatively.
“When I talk about the skills, it’s about the domain expertise, the creativity being matched with these AI tools or AI knowledge that exists,” he said.
He warned that workers who eventually lose their jobs to technology may not necessarily do so because AI is inherently capable of performing every aspect of their work, but because they failed to adapt to changes in their industries.
“For people who would potentially lose their jobs, it’s because of the fact that they did not take advantage or learn or adapt to the new world of technology or the business that we operate in at the moment,” he said.
Mr Akane compared the likely impact of AI on jobs to the introduction of automated teller machines (ATMs) in the banking sector.
He explained that the arrival of ATMs reduced the number of customers who needed to visit bank branches and, consequently, changed the role of bank tellers.
“Think about it like the ATM and the teller,” he said. “So years ago there were a lot of tellers at the bank, right? And you know, you would go there, join a queue.”
But the introduction of ATMs changed the situation.
“When ATMs were introduced, when ATMs got installed, fewer people started going to the bank,” he said.
Mr Akane said bank tellers who failed to develop additional skills or explore other opportunities within the sector became increasingly vulnerable to automation.
“So if you were a teller and you did not evolve, find opportunities within the banking space or even within the work environment, and just focus on just that one skill, the ATM machine now started to replace,” he said.
He believes AI could have a similar effect across a wide range of industries, making continuous learning and adaptation increasingly important for workers.
“That is what the world of work, when it comes to technology and AI, is going to look like,” he said.
Mr Akane said ALX Enterprise is positioning itself to help businesses and individuals identify the skills they need to remain relevant as technology continues to change the workplace.
He said the organisation’s work with employers gives it access to market intelligence that can be used to identify emerging skills requirements and develop practical training programmes.
“And that’s where ALX Enterprise operates,” he said.
“We help businesses and individuals think of what skills, because of the work that we do, we have a lot of market intelligence from working with employers, and we are able to design programmes, practical programmes.”
He stressed that the organisation’s corporate training approach goes beyond traditional workshops, with a focus on solving actual problems businesses face.
“It’s not just a workshop,” he said. “What we see is different from us when it comes to corporate training; we facilitate what we call experientials.”
Under this approach, ALX Enterprise works with businesses to identify specific challenges and then develops training experiences around those problems.
“We look at problems within the businesses, and then we design the workshop or the experience to make sure that we are addressing solutions that can quickly be implemented in the businesses,” Mr Akane said.
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DISCLAIMER: The Views, Comments, Opinions, Contributions and Statements made by Readers and Contributors on this platform do not necessarily represent the views or policy of Multimedia Group Limited.
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