Training and Skills Alignment for the AI Generation

Abstract

As we enter the third decade of the 21st century, new and powerful forces are driving the direction of innovation in the fields such as science, technology and medicine. Digitalization has the potential to spur economic growth, but risks exacerbating inequalities. Artificial Intelligence (AI), automation and other digital general-purpose technologies can spur economic growth when they generate innovation that complements and enhances human productivity but they risk worsening economic inequality when innovation simply replaces people. They will make certain occupations obsolete and give rise to new ones that require different sets of skills. While they may create leapfrogging opportunities for some less-developed economies, others may miss out due to a lack of large capital investments and the high-skilled labor force necessary for these technologies to thrive. Current research indicates that many high education institutions have yet to form meaningful or robust responses to the changes occurring in the era of AI. It is imperative that high educational institutions, regardless of the context, understand the current and future importance of AI and begin to incorporate AI into their development and planning processes. Forward thinking and, where possible, preemptive action will position education institutions and their graduates to thrive in the AI era and make a positive contribution to economic, social and individual goals. Failure to do so, will have the opposite effect; graduates will be poorly prepared for the labour market and high education institutions as a whole will lose their status, when precisely the opposite is needed. To achieve this objective regardless of where their country currently stands on the AI adoption curve, the article proposes that education institutions should; Research the available AI tools, Integrate AI and related principles into core requirements, Leverage Open Educational Resources (OERs) to educate staff and students on AI, Guarantee the ethical use of AI and student data in the institutions, Capitalize on and create diversity initiatives in technology and Invest in academia-to-industry pathways.