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situation, EI can act as an anchor to provide stability
to the corporate ship struggling to come to terms with
effects of AI.
To stay relevant, the Organization/employees
will not only need to adapt to a rapidly changing
world but will also be required to acquire new skills
in a changing society. The question now arises: how
can the Organization/employees stay relevant in an
automated world and what people skills do they need
to acquire?
We at Bodhi Nexus, believe there are broadly two
categories of skills which will be in great demand in
the VUCA world.
High-Tech Skills
According to a Gartner report, AI is expected to
create 2.3 million jobs by 2020, replacing the 1.8 million
it will eliminate,. Employer demand for AI positions
and skills has more than doubled over the past three
years, according to job the search site ‘Indeed’. These
skills are at the forefront of technology and are
causing disruption at an unprecedented scale. These
are the skills on which an AI engine runs like Machine
Learning, Python, R, Data Science, Data Mining, Big
Data, Apache Spark, etc. The fi eld is rapidly evolving
and there is demand for many newer technologies as
well. One needs to keep abreast of development in this
space and constantly upgrade/add skills.
High-Touch Skills
Emotional intelligence separates us from the
machines. According to Andrew Colman, EI is defi ned
as, “the capability of individuals to recognize their
own emotions and those of others, discern between
different feelings and label them appropriately,
use emotional information to guide thinking and
behavior, and manage and/or adjust emotions to adapt
to environments or achieve one’s goal(s).”
EI offers us ability to relate to the people around
us which AI cannot. Machines will have to learn how
to develop their capacity to understand others as well
as grow their ability for compassion and empathy to
be as effective as humans.
There are several situations which require “High-
Touch” which AI is not equipped to handle yet. To
EI offers us ability to relate to
the people around us which
AI cannot. Machines will have
to learn how to develop their
capacity to understand others
as well as grow their ability for
compassion and empathy to be
as effective as humans.
name a few: handling customers/stakeholders in
situations where emotions are involved like anger,
frustration, impatience, disappointment, surprise,
happiness, gratitude etc. In these situations, AI may
not be able to perform as well as humans (at least
for now).
One needs EI skills such as persuasion, empathy,
infl uencing, motivating and understanding that are
highly valued in such situations. The importance of
EI skills will continue to rise and will be a must for
ALL in a corporate environment. In the future, an
individual might survive without AI skills, but he
will not be effective without EI skills. EI skills may
be undervalued in today’s world, but with the rise of
AI, they will be one of the most sought after.
Acquiring EI may be the only way humans can
stay relevant in the workforce, as computational
and analytical skills could be completely automated
down the line.
Perhaps somewhere in the future, we will develop
an AI that can relate to humans emotionally. Dr Yuval
Harari says that all “Organisms are Algorithms”
and thus time is not far when AI which runs on the
logic of mastering algorithms, will also crack the EI
algorithm. Until then, we will have to nurture and
train humans on emotional intelligence with rigor.
Once algorithms of organisms is hacked and we
cease to exist as homo sapiens, we are familiar with,
the quest to stay relevant will start again and probably
with greater urgency. For now, and in foreseeable
future our bet is on Emotional Intelligence. P & M
Vol. 10 Issue 1 • JANUARY 2019, Noida |
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