The Age of AI is Here. Here's How to Thrive In It.

You know all those articles predicting of a time when artificial intelligence will take over the world, forever changing it?

Well, those days are no longer theoretical. New LinkedIn data shows we are in the midsts of the age of AI – and we are indeed seeing massive change because of it.

A few data points:

• AI skills are among the fastest-growing skills on LinkedIn, with a 190% increase in AI skills on LinkedIn from 2015 to 2017.
• Industries with more AI skills present among their workforce are also the fastest-changing industries.
• The countries with the highest penetration of AI skills are the United States, China, India, Israel and Germany.

Here’s the bigger point: AI has already transformed several industries, like software, finance and manufacturing. Those fields were the first to adopt AI, but now nearly all industries are adopting AI in one form or another.

And that’ll cause massive change within those industries as well.

How to Thrive in the World of AI

You are probably reading this and thinking – okay, what do I do? Will a computer steal my job? How do I stay relevant?

The good news is that AI won’t mean the removal of massive jobs. But it will mean the transformation of millions of jobs, requiring workers to learn new skills to thrive in them.

We are already seeing that happen in the software and finance industries, where AI is ubiquitous. Other fields will soon experience a similar transformation as well.

So, what should you do if you want to stay ahead in the age of AI? These are the main things to focus on:

• First and foremost, making learning part of your routine. The World Economic Forum released a report this month stating “active learning” is now a key in-demand skill. Making learning part of your routine is the single best thing you can do for your career, as AI and the new economy it’ll bring will heavily reward those with an adaptive, agile approach.

• Focus on mastering “soft” skills. The skills AI will never be able to displace are ones that are uniquely human. This extends far beyond being nice – it means skills like thinking strategically, collaborating effectively, prioritizing efficiently and managing others. Plus, unlike “hard” skills, soft skills never become obsolete, so learning them will benefit you throughout your entire career.

• Learning these specific skills will make you particularly in-demand today. For today and the immediate future, this boom of AI is leading to huge demand for specific skills. Because they are relatively new skills, the supply of people with them is low – meaning that if you learn them, you will be highly sought-after by recruiters and companies alike. They are:

  • Artificial Intelligence

  • Cloud Computing

  • Data Science

  • The Internet of Things

The Takeaway: It Comes Down to a Choice

The age of AI is here. There are two ways to view it.

One is a a view based on fear, where you decry the loss of highly repetitive jobs and the stability they provide. And demonize the people behind these machines.

The second approach is to embrace the tremendous benefits AI can have and learn how to incorporate their transcendent benefits into your work, empowering you to have more impact than what was ever previously possible.

We hope you chose the latter. There’s great success to be had in the age of AI.

Plus, it’s a lot more fun.