Is AI coming for your job? How it could impact the job market and the 4 positions that are safe bets

As Boston area college students prepare to graduate they are not only competing against each other but a new - formidable opponent - artificial intelligence.

Technology experts Boston 25 News spoke with tell say like it or not, AI is changing the workplace.

Dr. Simon Johnson is a professor of entrepreneurship at MIT Sloan. He just completed a book on technology and says AI is quickly making inroads.

“Now that doesn’t mean that we’ve got a handle yet on all the impacts, including on jobs. But the speed with which this is moving and currently the acceleration is really dramatic,” said Johnson.

Prof Johnson says students with careers where they discern information are safe bets. Areas like:

• Lab science
• Biochemistry
• Bioengineering
• Biotech

All of which have strong roots in the Boston area job market.

Johnson’s MIT colleague, Professor Yossi Sheffi, says job seekers with a tech background won’t become extinct thanks to AI, but it may mean they’ll need to prepare for a different future by leveraging their “human qualities”.

“We need people to have what’s called soft skills. They need to be able to convince people, manage people, work with people, partner with people.

He says that’s where humans - and not machines can excel.

Skills like:

• Empathy

• A moral code

• And the flexibility to seek out answers

And those are especially important for careers in management. “You have to know how to work in a team, how to manage a team and motivate the team,” says Sheffi.

And in order to stay ahead, Sheffi had one more crucial tip. “You have to keep learning. You have to keep studying. You have to keep with it because you can be bypassed by the technology very quickly,” he said.

The professor says students who understand that will rise to the top of the candidate pool.

The MIT professor also says though it’s tempting don’t just jump at the first job with the highest salary.

Professor Sheffi says instead take one that gives you the opportunity to learn and grow. That will help you become valuable for the long term with a clear path on how to move ahead.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

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