Reskilling in the robot era

THE traditional sources of science fiction have been books and movies, vividly portraying how technology could transform the way we live.

In recent days, however, news about technological advances has driven home hard the reality that what we once considered normal may soon change at speeds unfathomable just a few years ago.

Seedance 2.0, an artificial intelligence (AI) video generator, had produced short video clips that increasingly blur the line between fiction and reality.

To illustrate the rapid improvements in AI video technology, it recreated a clip of actor Will Smith eating spaghetti – a nod to a well-known AI-generated version from years ago that depicted the same scene.

The earlier clip appeared almost comical, but the latest version is becoming increasingly indistinguishable from reality.

Meanwhile, the chief executive officer of Microsoft AI has warned that many white-collar jobs could be taken over by AI within the next 18 months.

The message is stark: even traditionally secure professions, especially white-collar jobs, may no longer be safe.

How long will this shift take to reach our shores is up for debate, but it will almost certainly be faster that past waves of technological adoption in Malaysia.

There is also a clip where the world’s richest man, Elon Musk, says that AI will replace surgeons in the next few years.

He predicts that within the next five years, AI-powered surgeons could match – or even surpass – the best human practitioners.

Videos have also shown robots stitching the skin of a grape, demonstrating how technology can replicate the finest human hand movements.

And technology will only continue to improve.

We have all seen just how technology over the past decades have replaced jobs.

The motor car replaced horse-drawn carriages, refrigerators made the ice block industry obsolete, and emails have virtually replaced letters to a point that postal services are struggling.

What technology in the past had done was to primarily advance specific industries or functions.

When the motor car or the train replaced the horse-drawn carriage, it was specific to that industry.

People adapted by retraining and redirecting their skills to support new industries.

But robotics and AI are different. If a human was previously needed to maintain a robot, why can’t a robot maintain itself?

Robots are designed to improve and replace human tasks, not to create opportunities for humans to learn new skills or shift to another job.

That is the biggest change with AI and robotics.

In the past, technology was meant to improve our lives; now, it increasingly replaces our jobs.

The change will accelerate as robots emulate our hand and finger movements, mirroring the fine motor skills that have long made humans unique.

Our intelligence has also set us apart in the animal kingdom, but AI and quantum computing now present a challenge to that advantage.

So what can we do?

Malaysia has a large underemployment issue: about 35% of university-educated workers are in jobs they are not trained to do.

This highlights the need to retrain students for skills more applicable to the future needs of the workforce.

While universities are still churning out graduates, one has to wonder about their employability in an ever-changing world.

That is why technical and vocational education and training is so important.

As AI begins to replace white-collar jobs and robotics transform production floors with repetitive tasks, skilled blue-collar workers are going to assume greater relevance in the workplace.

Even these roles may eventually come under pressure as technology advances, but targeted skills training, along with Malaysia’s declining population, can help mitigate the impact in the foreseeable future.

The real challenge before us is to ensure that AI and robotics can advance without undermining people’s livelihoods or dignity – allowing everyone the opportunity to make an honest living.