You speak English and therefore our blog has always been a huge question mark for you? Well, not anymore! We decided to spice things up a bit 😉 At the end of each month, we will publish a summary containing all the topics we’ve been talking about all month long in English ?

 

What was going on in February?

Work, work, work! This isn’t even a joke! The main topic last month was “The Future of Work”, especially the digitalization of the working environment, the consequences we have to face but also the opportunities a digitized “working world” has to offer.

No Job, no problem

Starting with the question which professional groups are particularly at risk of losing their jobs, we were taught from an expert that the answer is a rule of thumb: The simpler a task, the more likely it will be to replace them with algorithms and machines. This in turn implies that education, soft skills (e.g.: empathy, self reflection, teamwork,…) creativity and ethical reflection are becoming increasingly important to keep your job.

Of course, many people are worried about their job. What if they get replaced? So, we dug deeper and came across an interesting thesis: “Fewer jobs don’t have to be an economic problem in the future. They can rather be a step forward. To go this way, a social change of values is essential.” If the government succeeds in replacing a large number of jobs at a lower cost through digitalization, then it has more money to realise an unconditional basic income.

However, the realization of such an income harbors above all a very big problem: Many of us will struggle with a life crisis. They might not feel needed anymore. How should we spend our lives if our job and performance pressure don’t matter anymore? First of all, we should use the progress to leave our meritocracy behind. Focusing on social and emotional skills like empathy, creativity and our personal development. It’s time to realise that we can find happiness and a meaning of life even without performance thinking.

It starts in school

I’m pretty sure you heard your teachers say:”Not for school, for life we learn.” Yeah, I also rolled my eyes and I even don’t know until now what I learned “for life.” If the school prepares us for working life, then something should drastically change. What schools of tomorrow should teach:

• Less factual knowledge, more independent thinking, social skills, problem-solving strategies and creativity.
• Introducing new subjects like “Finding luck and happiness”, “Searching your meaning of life”, “Personal Development” and “Physical and Mental Health.”
• Let professionals from a wide variety of life and work sectors teach students to unite theory and practice.

Are we offended because we are being replaced?

Like Darwin, Kopernikus and Freud, Artificial Intelligence is also a hot candidate when it comes to insulting the entire humanity. Machines work more accurately, faster and, above all, cheaper than humans. In the future, more and more jobs will be occupied by machines. Artificial intelligences and algorithms continue to overshadow humans. All of us become replaceable when it comes to analytical skills and the ability of logical information processing.

How we can handle it: We could use digital advances as an opportunity to rethink our mission and position as humans. What would stand against it if we outsource the things that machines actually do better than humans, and focus our consciousness on other skills and competences? After all, our time alive is very short, why not fill it with joy rather than things machines can anyway do better?

Last but not least

Last week, I talked to Christian, the founder of our “Technologieengel-Familie”, about Digital Assistants. He not only lets his assistant know that he is at home, whereupon it turns on the light and turns on the music, but also uses this kind of support during his daily work routine. According to Christian Digital assistants are “computer programs that support the dialogue by talking or writing with them. They are no longer a one-way communication platform.”

They simplify information gathering because for us humans, the most intuitive thing is simply to talk to someone. We are used to asking if we want to know something. Furthermore, it’s also very comfortable and time-saving. Especially in the office, the digital assistant is a perfect partner. For Christian, he manages the organization, takes care of search queries, the appointment management and the FAQ area. „At the interface with the customer, it is important to ensure that the customer receives information in small bites and is not overwhelmed by a flood of information,“ says Christian.

Copyright © Bild: Unsplash