Pavel Bukengolts writes a piece for UX Magazine that reiterates what I’ve been covering here: our general shift to AI means that human judgement and adaptability are more important than ever.
Before getting to the meat of the issue, Bukengolts highlights the talent crisis that is our own making:
The outcome is a broken pipeline. If graduates cannot land their first jobs, they cannot build the experience needed for the next stage. A decade from now, organizations may face not just a shortage of junior workers, but a shortage of mid-level professionals who never had a chance to develop.
If rote repetitive tasks are being automated by AI and junior staffers aren’t needed for those tasks, then what skills are still valuable? Further on, he answers that question:
Centuries ago, in Athens, Alexandria, or Oxford, education focused on rhetoric, logic, and philosophy. These were not academic luxuries but survival skills for navigating complexity and persuasion. Ironically, they are once again becoming the most durable protection in an age of automation.
Some of these skills include:
- Logic: Evaluating arguments and identifying flawed reasoning—essential when AI generates plausible but incorrect conclusions.
- Rhetoric: Crafting persuasive narratives that create emotional connection and resonance beyond what algorithms can achieve.
- Philosophy and Ethics: Examining not just capability but responsibility, particularly around automation’s broader implications.
- Systems Thinking: Understanding interconnections and cascading effects that AI’s narrow outputs often miss.
- Writing: Communicating with precision to align stakeholders and drive better outcomes.
- Observation: Detecting subtle signals and anomalies that fall outside algorithmic training data.
- Debate: Refining thinking through intellectual challenge—a practice dating to ancient dialogue.
- History: Recognizing recurring patterns to avoid cyclical mistakes; AI enthusiasm echoes past technological revolutions.
I would say all of the above not only make a good designer but a good citizen of this planet.
