[00:00:00] Peyton Pocock: Hello, everyone. Uh, welcome back to our CareerCon Monthly, all about artificial intelligence today. I'm Peyton. I'm the web designer and developer here at hundo. Um, today, I'm Joined by Isa. Um, Isa, could you introduce a little bit about who you are and what you do?

[00:00:26] Isa Mutlib: Sure. Uh, hello everybody. Um, my name is Isa.

Uh, I run the AI work and skills Academy, which, uh, was born out of the AI work and skills forum, and the forum was set up to bring together key stakeholders, uh, in, within industry. But also those involved in AI and the future work to understand that and to find best practices to shape the future of work and skills when it comes to AI.

And it's largely my, uh, ambition to ensure that every single individual has the capabilities and the understanding of how AI can impact them. But more importantly, how they can use it to become more productive and more efficient in the work they do, whether that be their personal lives or that be their professional lives.

[00:01:17] Peyton Pocock: Lovely. And I'll sort of jump into the first of a few questions, um, here all about AI. Um, how is AI currently transforming various industries and what implications What impact does this have on jobs and career opportunities, especially into an ever evolving job market in the future?

[00:01:36] Isa Mutlib: Yeah, sure. It's a very interesting question.

I think we have to look at how AI has been shaping the way we work for many, many, many years. And the whole purpose of of AI or artificial intelligence is that it uses a series of datasets to make a series of predictions or a series of results. And previously that was largely done on known datasets and to create an unknown response.

So. If you know that there is two apples, one brown apple and a red apple, then, sorry, a green apple and a red apple, then you know that the end result would be two apples, one apple, one red apple, uh, one, uh, green apple, one red apple equals two apples, one green, one red. But then where generative AI has changed the landscape is that it's using data sets out there to create results that are based on predictions.

And so, for example, we've seen images being created based on a set of knowledge that, uh, And more importantly, data that the, um, large language model has to be able to shape the way they, uh, shape the results to produce results that can, uh, generate new, uh, information. Largely we've seen, uh, with images we've seen with, uh, video and also we've seen with text, but if you want to look at how industry is responding to it, well, You look no further than some of the industries that we're seeing, which are impacted, like health care, where there's going to be diagnostics and personalized medicine and personalized care, all because we've got better data, better access to create more accurate, um, Uh, analytics and predictive analytics for creating treatment plans as an example.

But then there's also the world of finance where we've got fraud detection. We've got a sort of, uh, customer services, chatbots, et cetera. What's important here is that there are people and processes that are going to be impacted. People in the way they work and processes in the way they operate. I think the opportunities.

What this means is that the way we see jobs in the next five to ten years won't be how we saw jobs The previous five to 10 years, because a lot of it will revolve around automation, around, uh, skilling, around having the basic knowledge, basic information around AI and, and, uh, the, the different ways in which AI operates in today's world.

That said, there's going to be some jobs which who are, or which will be, uh, untouched. Them jobs will be there. They'll still be there. They'll be untouched, but the ones that will be impacted are the ones, you know, similar to what they call white collar jobs where there'll be a lot of white collar jobs where they'll be impacted.

I don't personally believe that we should call it job losses or job displacement. I think it will just be job transitions because if we call it job losses, what we're saying is that those individuals will then lose their job, but In effect, what how people perceive that is that they effectively become a redundant, uh, uh, skill set or redundant source.

I believe that it's a it's a means and opportunity for somebody careers to actually evolve into Uh the future work in their particular sector

[00:05:09] Peyton Pocock: And um, I suppose there are a few bits touched on there. Um, increasingly personalized results Um, and those are obviously going to be for end users of um The output of whatever it is that these industries are producing.

Um, and I suppose also increasing augmentation of AI in someone's role. Um, so not only are they skilled in using programs and software and, um, all of the sort of traditional soft skills and your maths and your English and your communication skills, but also then understanding, um, How AI can help and what, what sort of applications it might have in particular roles and in for particular businesses, um, and, uh, an understanding of how it works and what limitations it has as well and where it excels and where it doesn't.

Um, and I can definitely see that being an important skill going into the future, um, to sort of expand on that a little bit. Could you provide some more sort of insight on. Um, how might be the best way to prepare for the future of work with AI, especially for young people that might be going into jobs for the first time going forward?

[00:06:18] Isa Mutlib: Yeah, I think there's, there's, look, what we know now is that the world of AI changes every single day. We have new platforms coming out, new technology coming out, but it's important to understand firstly, how. What parts of your jobs or what part of our jobs are, could be automated, could be at risk. And the way to do that is by continuously evolving the way you seek information about and learn about AI.

But also, and this is kind of a pretty easy way of saying it, but just try it out and test it out. Try the various platforms out and test it out and see how. individuals can actually use this platform or the platforms out there or the technology out there to complete certain tasks. I mean, I won't name any products, but there are many products out there that can actually create and generate content for social media, for digital marketers.

And what, and then you've got other platforms can help schedule it. So the individual then becomes is a more of an operator or a manager of various tools to complete a certain task and this sort of micromanagement of our lives and micromanagement of our, the way we do tasks it it's already there.

We've just been doing it a lot manually now. We've got the ability to do it manually in a much more efficient way to complete those tasks. So I think I would say get involved in a lot of the platforms out there. Obviously, the obvious one is OpenAI's ChatGPT. If you're a developer, uh, check out, uh, GPT's, um, sort of development tools as well.

So I think they are, they are incredible in terms of creating apps, creating, uh, question banks, et cetera. But then I would say, if you do have some, uh, basic element of software engineering, then develop them and get them coupled with AI, because what you've got for those who use, for those who use, um, software engineering, uh, or for those who are software developers, uh, uh, They've got access to GitHub's, uh, copilot, use these tools to see how it makes my life different or your life different or better, more productive, because time saved can be applied elsewhere without being personalized, but also in our professional lives.

[00:08:46] Peyton Pocock: Another specific tool that I'd seen recently that I thought was quite a cool idea was this AI powered, um, sort of task management calendar thing. Um, excuse me, uh, it, it sort of rearranged your tasks and your daily schedule based on the priority and deadlines of different tasks, um, and also trying to juggle, um, not doing sort of the same thing throughout the day and trying to keep your brain quite active throughout the day, which I thought was a really, another sort of really nice, um, solution. Um, I suppose in general, then, or in general, um, an increasing skill or necessity is being a generalist, um, and sort of knowing how to operate lots of different, um, different types of things, different types of software and being quite keen to put your hand into learning new things and switching out throughout a role. I can definitely attest to that in my role at hundo and sort of every few months constantly having to sort of learn new processes and learn sort of lots of different new skills, which I personally find really quite fun. And then sort of going on a little bit deeper, um, how can young people acquire the technical skills they need?

And what specific soft skills are important for a thriving AI driven job market?

[00:10:09] Isa Mutlib: Yeah, I think the, if, if we would start with soft skills first, before we go on to sort of technical skills, um, It's it's you mentioned earlier about being a generalist and being a specialist. I think every individual needs to really assess whether they will become more technical in terms of how they deal with AI.

So are they developing the software? Are they manipulating or managing the software? And how it's built for infrastructure and in. internal organizations. But every single individual, every single individual needs to be AI capable. So a bit like how we were all at one point, uh, not digitally native, digitally, uh, capable of typing or, uh, completing word art, word text, et cetera, or Microsoft Word, et cetera, having the basic digital skills.

I would say every single individual needs basic AI skills, and that largely revolves around working with the various platforms, doing some of their, some of their basic programs, but also utilizing how to create a video, how to create social media posts, how to create, how to create a, uh, a chain of reactions for a tweet if somebody sent a, an email in. And these things can now be largely, uh, brought in by, uh, various AI tools. I think that becomes, that's where the adaptability is because individuals can then become a bit more adaptable. They can actually use these tools to better enhance their soft skills, better enhance their, uh, communications, et cetera.

Now, I wanna do a, like a caveat around communication. I think the communication when a, when a, when a scenario comes where you are working with AI tool, communication is very critical because your, you are communicating with the AI platforms to say, I want a particular thing, for a particular thing, for a particular thing. And your ability to share that information with that, uh, platform strengthens your case and strengthens the results that's produced for you. But then that's going to where the technical skills comes along and having basic understanding of what the technical aspect of, uh, um, AI is, because then you can actually have better control over the responses or the, how you, how you bring in AI into your own lives and your own, uh, sort of work.

But in terms of. I, I would also say from a, uh, soft skills perspective, having good collaborative agendas and having that mindset that you want to collaborate with your peers, et cetera, allows an individual to build a, uh, an ecosystem where they can thrive together, but that's act, uh, in a more, in a more efficient and more productive way.

So I would say, I'll touch on that. I'll say one last thing is. There's various projects online where you can actually use GPT. For example, I came across one where, um, this was, if you're interested in becoming a lawyer, don't use chat GPT until you actually complete your law degree. But as I said, what, uh, there was a task that I did the other day where, uh, learning, um, about prompt prompt engineering and what it does was it wanted the individuals to create a letter for a particular reason.

And that letter had to have certain requirements, but you can only meet those requirements with follow up prompts. And that was a very good way of. Learning prompt engineering. So that's my own personal experience, but having that curiosity there to really go out there and learn about the different, uh, different AI tools out there.

I would say it's probably above all, most important.

[00:14:09] Peyton Pocock: And I suppose to sum it up in as concise a way as possible, uh, I would take away curious, agile, and communicative, um, I think, uh, probably some of the most important skills for any, any role throughout the history of time, but especially going forward And then to sort of continue that a little bit.

Um, what role does The continuous learning and upskilling of your skills play in maintaining your sort of career relevance, especially with AI and new emerging technologies?

[00:14:44] Isa Mutlib: I'll say, I think, you know, kind of going back to a previous point, I would say, keep it up to date with. All the different technologies out there, you know, we just this week, uh, there was a, um, Apple update.

And then there's, uh, you, you have, you have all the various platforms out there, uh, where they have various updates now to go from it, from a, uh, sort of a tech company updates perspective around AI is a good way, but to have foundational knowledge of uh, the technologies behind AI means that you have an advantage when it comes to any development because you will have better understanding of how the technology can have an impact on your life or on the future work, uh, people around you.

[00:15:37] Peyton Pocock: I, um, I think there's, uh, there's some definitely quite fun things you can do in your daily sort of routine that helps you stay curious. Um, especially with the sort of progressive technologies. Um, I find myself occasionally both Googling and ChatGPT-ing I'm not sure if that's a term, a, a query just to see what different results they get.

And then by doing that, you can start to learn. What each platform is good at and what specific use cases they are good at. I find also, if you want to stay up to date with new news or developments and things, uh, my go to is, is literally just YouTube. Um, you can find some really great like update channels there.

Um, I find quite engaging, not only entertaining, but also quite informative as well, I think.

[00:16:22] Isa Mutlib: But it's important to understand, it's important to understand people will be overwhelmed by all this information, all this, um, uh, you know, there's some fear mongering going on, there's some reality, there's some ethical considerations, uh, that people need to take into, uh, these conversations.

But it's also important to go with an open mind. Go with an open mind to say, okay, I am a software developer, and if I had the opportunity, I would like to make this task a bit more easier for myself. How do I go about it? Is there an AI for it? Is there a tool out there? And using that tool, you can then bridge the gap of understanding between what I know and what I would like to know, or what I know and what I would like to do.

[00:17:08] Peyton Pocock: And you mentioned ethical considerations, which I think is another sort of important thing to touch on a little bit. Um, there are a lot of ethical things to be mindful of, um, surrounding AI and there's two aspects, I suppose, to it as well. There's the development of the technology and there's the use cases of it as well.

Yeah. Um, could you sort of touch into what considerations should or could be made, um, in each of those aspects of the development and usage of AI, especially going forward?

[00:17:41] Isa Mutlib: Development usage. I think, I mean, it comes down to where the strategy is for those individuals. Uh, everybody's strategy is different. So don't go online looking for the answers for it. Go online to try the tools out to find out what answers or what you would like to know. I think that's going to very, a very sort of simplistic way of doing it.

But I think if, uh, to, to build use case scenarios for it, I think there was a lot of good resources out there about how people have already built use case scenarios out there. From our perspective and from our academy perspective, we're going to focus on a use case scenario for software development and for engineering because we believe that's where So software development and, uh, marketing, because we feel that's kind of where the businesses will largely benefit from it, especially where it comes to saving time, completing tasks, et cetera.

[00:18:37] Peyton Pocock: I think a, uh, quite important ethical consideration, um, for me personally as well is, is ensuring that. The development of AI, it can be democratized amongst everyone. Um, I would, I would hate for there to be an eventual world where there are only one or two specific companies that sort of gatekeep the access to this technology.

Um, and then have ultimate control over the direction it's steered in. Um, obviously there's, there's. Lots of aspects to that and, uh, there'll, there'll need to be some sort of regulations and things at some point, uh, put in place to make sure that everyone has the ability to, um, to develop AI, um, but also sort of making sure that things are nicely um, regulated in their safety as well.

Um, and being quite cautious of, of bad actors playing into.

[00:19:33] Isa Mutlib: Yeah, of course. Look, look, let me give you a good example. Let me give you a very good example of how, uh, AI will really redevelop the way in which we can do our work. We're using a platform right now that has embedded AI. It will automatically note and realize that we have any glitches, anything, any problems there, it will automatically sort that out for us. Now, to be in a position where that's never, you know, you ask a video editor, they would have had to do that. It would take hours and hours and hours and there's a platform where it does that for you. The fear for the video editor is, oh, my job's gone.

But the reality is my jobs become much more easy, much more efficient, so I can spend more time on quality and producing good quality content. I think there's a lot of, uh, unreal, uh, fears out there and real, uh, uh, things that people need to understand, but also good opportunities for people out there as well.

[00:20:32] Peyton Pocock: Hmm. And I have one final sort of quick curveball question for you. Um, Isa, uh, five years ago, you sort of predicted that CV writing might become uh, sort of thing in the past or less, um, focused on, particularly in job interviews, um, I was wondering about your thoughts on how skill based assessments might become more important in the future, um, as you apply to jobs, um, and sort of assessing someone's actual tangible abilities, uh, and, uh, how AI might have an impact on that in the future.

[00:21:07] Isa Mutlib: Yeah. Um, I know where we're short on time, but I think I'd make it quite easy to response. I think the whole process of finding a job when it was like, uh, applying for jobs will become very easy. I think it become very easy. I think people will then be able to express themselves much more easy in a way where somebody like myself finds it very hard to write.

Uh, there are tools now that I can kind of write notes and build upon them, become a better writer, uh, and express myself, express myself better to employers. The bit that still is missing, I'd say is yes, everything I said in 2020 or 2019, uh, has come, uh, has become true. The bit that's missing, I would say is the digital skills gap from underrepresented communities from low socioeconomic groups, because the reality is these groups don't have, uh, the, the basic digital, uh, skills they need, and that's where I would say inequality will still exist. So AI has the capabilities of removing inequalities, but to get there, there are inequalities in existence that needs to be, um, addressed.

[00:22:17] Peyton Pocock: Hmm. I think there was a really lovely quote that went, it was something along the lines of, Underrepresented, not underdeveloped, uh, or some, some, some sort of something along the lines of that, which I thought was quite lovely. Um, well, thank you very much, Isa. We've, uh, sort of run out of time, unfortunately.

Um, I've really enjoyed our conversation today. If people would like to connect with you and learn more about what you do, where is best to find you on the internet?

[00:22:44] Isa Mutlib: Just, um, uh, uh, I'm on all social media platforms. Uh, that's @ Isa Mutlib, uh, my first name, my surname. Um, and you can, if you, if you're in need of a, an AI job, or if you're looking for AI talent is all you need to do is go to ineedaitalent.com, and that's where you find us.

[00:23:05] Peyton Pocock: Lovely stuff. Well, thank you very much for joining us today. Um, and thank you everyone else for watching. Um, I've really enjoyed our conversation.

[00:23:14] Isa Mutlib: Fantastic. Thank you very much.

[00:23:16] Peyton Pocock: Thank you. Take care.