AI Isn't Taking Your Job — But Someone Who Knows How to Use It Might

John Ribeiro (0:18)

There's a question I'm hearing constantly from professionals right now, and the question is this, is AI going to replace my job?

I think here's a better question.

How is the AI changing my job, and am I changing with it? Because AI isn't simply a technology story anymore, it's becoming a career development story. And there's so much support indicating that things are really shifting. And if you're, and unfortunately people are, disillusioned, right? Because it's not that it's not going to change and alter what we do, it's definitely going to do that. So we have to be really mindful of it. And we have an opportunity here to get in front of that. You know, and you know, the people that I've been working with from a coaching perspective, they've really crushed it in terms of taking the initiative, stepping in front of it, learning it. You know, even myself as a coach and as a speaker and as a professional, as a podcaster even, you know, I'm constantly looking at new ways to do things better, more effectively. And this is where AI has become a really great thought partner for me.

So one of the practices that I've implemented for myself is every Sunday, you know, when I'm at home alone because people are out of the house or people are off the classes doing different things, I spend a good half hour to an hour every week learning about AI or understanding about AI, understanding prompting, understanding skills, understanding how to create an agent that will do things for me to make my life a little bit easier. And this is where we should all be looking. This is where we need to be curious. So according to Statistics Canada, they reported that more than one third of Canadian workers had used generative AI at work over the previous 12 months. So AI literacy is quickly becoming a part of our normal workplace capabilities.

So let me talk about it in three levels. So level one is just AI curiosity. I've tried ChatGPT, I've put in a prompt, I've told it to make an image of me looking like a Pixar character. That's level one, just being curious, playing with it and understanding it. Level two is AI capability. I use AI to do research, summarize, brainstorm and improve my productivity. Here's what I want to preface, and especially for those of you that are coming from outside the country into Canada or into the North American market, you want to make sure that you know things as you start to use it. It shouldn't replace your critical thinking. AI is there as a tool, as a support mechanism. It's not a way to just redo things and put your label on it and call it yours. It's you taking what you know and then enhancing it.

That's level two. Level three is this, it's AI strategic. I understand where AI can improve my business results, decision-making, consumer experience, or productivity. This is what I'm finding with a lot of people I'm working with, those that are AI strategic are getting advantages within their job.

Here's what I want you to start thinking about, encourage you to move towards level three. Ask yourself, how has AI changed my profession in the last 12 months? How could you save your employer five hours per week using AI?

How could you improve customer experience? How could you make better decisions than connected to the interview? Instead of saying, I know ChatGPT, you say, I've been experimenting with generative AI to accelerate research and first drafts, while still applying to professional judgments to the final output. Because AI only takes you 80% of the way, the remaining 20% is you and your expertise. And that creates a much stronger career story. So, don't become afraid of AI, become curious about it. You know, just play with it, have some fun. Pick one task you regularly do and perform and ask, could AI help me do this faster, better or more intelligently? And then learn it. Because the future probably isn't human versus AI, it's human who understands to work with AI first. And that's what I want for you. I want you to be a level 3 AI user in the workplace, so you too can succeed in your interviews and get you to the next level. Thanks for listening. Wishing you all a great one. Talk to you all soon.