BUSINESS CLASS
wealth
‘In a world where we’re handing over so much
of our humanity to computer code, I think that
there is something human that rebels against this’- COMMIT TO
LIFELONG LEARNING
‘It used to be the case that when
you left university you had
sufficient education to sustain
yourself in the workplace for 30
years. That’s absolutely not true
any longer. The pace of change
is such that you have to be in a
constant cycle of both formal
and informal learning.’ - GET USED TO CODING
‘It’s not about becoming
a computer scientist,’ says Ross.
‘It’s understanding the basis on
which the future is being built.
It’s like knowing how to read
a spreadsheet – a form of basic
literacy in the economy. Think
of coding in the same way.’ - TRAVEL
‘If you’re at the start of your
career, get as many stamps in
your passport as possible,’ Ross
counsels. But he’s thinking
emerging economies rather
than the gap-year standards.
‘There are many countries that
are going to see expansions of
their economy and you can be
a part of that.’ - LEARN ACROSS
DIFFERENT FIELDS
‘It’s important to understand
things that are scientific and
technological. However, to be
a leader in the future industries
you will need to combine it
with skills associated with
the humanities, from emotional
intelligence to communication.’
People think of Facebook
as the product of a brilliant
computer scientist, but it is as
much the product of expertise
in behavioural psycholog y.’ - HEAD FOR THE
NEW HORIZONS
Key areas of expansion over
the next 20 years are robotics,
artificial intelligence, big data,
the commercialisation of
genomics, cyber security and
the codification of money and
trust. But there will also be
less-expected ones. ‘In a world
where we’re handing over so
much of our humanity to
computer code, I think that
there is something human that
rebels against this. We’re going
to need to almost repair in the
face of this. So the demand for
psychologists will shoot up.’- MASTER A NEW
LANGUAGE
‘In 10-15 years’ time we will
have earpieces that will allow
us to understand what’s being
spoken to us in 100 different
languages,’ states Ross. ‘But in
that time period great fortunes
are going to be made by people
who understand how to
navigate frontier marketplaces.’
Yet there’s a significant
difference between translation
and communication. ‘If you
want to be a real dealmaker
it sure helps if you can connect
and engage with a person
in their mother tongue.’ - KNOW THAT NOT
EVERYONE WILL BE A
SLAVE TO THE ALGORITHM
‘Creativity will become more
important, not less. ‘As our
world becomes more
consumed by zeroes and ones
we all need art more, so the
skills that go into being a
great artist are going to be
more cherished.’ - DON’T PANIC
‘I take an optimistic but well
short of utopian view of what
this technolog y means,’ muses
Ross. ‘Is the future going
to look like Mad Max or Star
Tre k? Neither. It’s going to be
somewhere in the middle.’
S
o, do you want the good news or the bad news? The bad
news is that the robots are coming for our jobs, and not just
blue-collar production-line jobs – they’ve got those already.
Bank of England governor Mark Carney warned last year of new
technolog y ‘hollowing out’ traditional middle-class service
industries, and most experts agree. One of them is Alec Ross, a
former aide to Hillary Clinton, who now advises corporations,
investors and governments on technolog y and innovation.
Thankfully, he also has the good news.
‘I don’t think it’s time to curl up in the foetal position,’ says
Ross, whose book The Industries Of The Future has been described
as a portable TED conference. But we’re going to have to change.
So, if you’re not yet ready to work for our new metallic overlords...8 WAYS TO
FUTURE-PROOF
YOUR CAREER
Here’s how to make sure you’re not left
out in the cold when the robots take overWords by John Naughton
Illustration by Mark OliverOCTOBER 2017 GQ.CO.ZA 61