The Experts

Sheryl says that while the past belonged to those with a deep understanding and highly specialised skills, the future will reward polymaths: that is, those with a sweep of knowledge across a broad range of disciplines. In fact, being able to see connections and the unexpected applications of knowledge derived from one sphere and how it might be applied in new and interesting ways will be a key driver of innovation and human creativity. Such transdisciplinary knowledge will link technology and artificial intelligence with human creativity making that world much more human in the process. In the past, people were often expected to fit themselves to technology, and this often made people feel like an insignificant cog in a much larger machine. The new technological environment will become more person-centred, tailoring the world to our needs and desires, whether that is purely focused on entertainment or on personalised medicine or upon the share economy that will allow us to have more while owning less. All of this will exist within the constant connectivity that has already brought about significant social changes, however, there are downsides to being constantly connected to the world in terms of our mental health and levels of anxiety. We will see the rise of preventative, rather than responsive, health care, including mindfulness. We will also increasingly find ways for people to disconnect from our hyperconnected world for some downtime. Many of the jobs of the future will involve finding ways to hack our lives to make them easier and more rewarding, automating the mundane tasks we have to do while presenting us with more options and better ways to achieve our goals. The ethical, intercultural and cross-cultural issues associated with living in the new spaces technology will provide for us will require new classes of specialists able to protect us in those spaces and to ensure that we are treated ethically while we navigate them. All of which will involve people with the skills to think across fields and to see the possibilities these new ways of interacting will enable.

The future will belong to those who can make the most of joining the unique advantages of humans and machines, and, as Daniel points out, especially in ways that design experiences that enhance all aspects of life. So much of life is full of things we find tedious. With the ongoing development of game technologies, designers will make the boring amusing. They will do this by transforming the interfaces we interact with and how data is collected. User interface designers will use their deep understanding of human nature and the capabilities of technology, so as to ensure our interactions are seamless, intuitive and natural. Increasingly, we expect to be amused and engaged at all times and in all of our interactions, and this will require highly creative people who are able to structure our interactions in ways that engage and delight us, and this is not a job likely to be replaced by machines any time soon. However, as the new technology will have the potential to gather deeply personal information about us, we will need to develop ways to protect and enhance our personal, physical and emotional wellbeing. Navigating the complexities of surveillance, privacy and the capabilities of new technology will require experts who can help us decide how much or how little of our lives we should be sharing and with whom. If used effectively, technology will allow us to interact with others in ways that will allow each of us to bring out the best of our skills and abilities. Key skills for the future workforce will include being able to interact and communicate across teams, knowing how and when to use technology to solve problems and how to ensure our physical and mental wellbeing, learning to create environments that bring joy, that create spaces for us to be together, and to enable us to change the world in ways that will humanise technology, the world of work, and all other aspects of our lives.

David focused the discussion on powerful futures coming from a combination of big data analytics and artificial intelligence — machines that can build other machines, and algorithms that can anticipate our needs. He talked of emerging technologies such as materials and propulsion science driven by space exploration, and 3D printing with an expanding range of applications, for instance including synthetic meat. He focused on the increasing complementarity of machines and humans, for instance, with health technologies and their application in diet apps, health trackers etc. Commentators talk about the ‘singularity’ where the dividing line between human and computer becomes blurred to the point where we can no longer distinguish them as separate. He saw the next step for machines will be for software to be developed that can interpret how to generate and use data to get at people’s underlying thoughts and emotions. He was optimistic that humans, in 20 years, will remain ahead of machines in our ability to make decisions on data, in creativity, ethical mindedness and emotional intelligence. The level of technological understanding will increase for all jobs of the future, but jobs will open up for people who can successfully stand between people and machines, and who can understand people, think creatively and abstractly around algorithmic software, and blend these skills to make software more powerful, intuitive and rewarding. His advice: ‘Learn how to code, and learn how to paint’.

For Susan, technologies bring different possibilities in how we might interact both with each other, and with the world around us. However, no technological change is simply positive or without problems of its own, since any change can bring to the fore new challenges. Many of the issues we face today are ‘wicked’ or extremely complex problems. Even if a solution to one aspect of the problem is found, it can inadvertently make other aspects worse. Susan believes the best way to address wicked problems is by bringing different people together with optimism and a shared concern for their own communities. Susan believes technology can help to connect us both as individuals to one another, as well as a purposeful, democratic community. In particular, the environmental problems we face, including those caused by consumerism, pollution and waste, will best be solved by us working together to understand our needs as a community and to see if we can use technology as a tool to make everyone’s life better. In this sense, we have much to learn from Indigenous communities, who retain an ongoing and strong connection to both land and community. Susan focuses on creating urban environments where people flourish, not merely as individuals, but as citizens, communities and cultures.

The workforce will change to explore multi-disciplinary skills, which are needed to generate additive manufacturing. For example mechanical, electrical, programming skills will each be required and will be found in one person or one team. Working collaboratively in teams ensures that ideas are considered from multiple perspectives and products can be manufactured with greater capacity and complexity. Robots will be involved in more complex, collaborative thinking too, which will require a higher level of programming skill than is currently known. This includes considering the design of products from biomimicry where nature ensures energy and materials are minimised in production and combined in elegant solutions. There is a lot of problem solving in this thinking and design. It also includes circular economics where material utilisation is designed carefully and materials area harvested from other products and separated to be used again after this product is used / finished. Mass customisation will become the way of shopping as everything is infinitely tailored to suit personal tastes and body shape. Imaging technology will be available as a phone app that will translate body images into measurements to generate individualised and customised products. Learning may change and become more focused instead of longer programs, specific courses will become preferential.