Opera is a unique musical genre, a story told with color and emotion through sophisticated singing, powerful interpretations and poetry. It has been enveloping viewers in an enthralling way since the 16th century, when it first appeared in Florence, Italy. The first opera, called Dafne, tells the sad story of Apollo, who challenges little Cupid and sees a curse fall on him that has haunted him ever since. In addition to reflecting on what we can do, but not necessarily what we should do, I would like to invite the attentive reader, the interested reader, to analyze the form, more than the content: an opera is not the music, nor the interpretation, the scenography or the lighting, but it is a harmonious fusion of all that and more. It has survived for more than 400 years because it is a solid construction, deeply rooted in the humanity of those who conceive, interpret and assist it.
There is little doubt that AI poses a serious threat to the future of our careers, but as with an opera, our professional performance is not limited to what we do, our profession, but to the set of our skills, abilities and attitudes towards to what must be done. It matters (increasingly!) how we integrate with those who produce with us (suppliers and colleagues), how our products and services affect the world during and after they are used, and how we differentiate ourselves from competitors in a sustainable and profitable way.
“The future will not be one of man against the machine, but of the man or woman with integrity and with a machine against those without a machine. Being efficient in the knowledge age means having time and energy to bring value in new ways, to new and existing customers, to the company and its partners”
We defend our AI position by understanding and leaning on the characteristics that make us human: connection, compassion, responsibility, discipline, flexibility, tenacity, insight, hope, among many others… The future will not be man against machine, but man or woman with integrity and with a machine against those without a machine. Our constant re-engineering in key disciplines (AI, statistics, storytelling, leadership, change management, design thinking) needs to be continually at the tip of your mouse. The challenge for those engaged in their own technical development is not the availability of content per se, but the exact opposite — oversupply! The most experienced professionals are sophisticated curators of the content they consume — they have an efficient means of identifying which books, courses, articles are worth their commitment of time and energy. Your work will be reasonably protected as long as the systematic search for innovative ways to connect and serve is integrated into it — we no longer have the luxury of doing the same thing for too long!
Exercise asking new questions, broaden your technical skills, and focus on continually building mutually beneficial connections by incorporating AI into everything that can be automated (and the list of what can be automated grows by the day). Being efficient in the knowledge age means having the time and energy to deliver value in new ways, to new and existing customers, to the company and its stakeholders. The best ones also have the strength to actively engage in actions and projects that seek to make the society they serve more just.
Humans will never be automated, tasks will. The opera continues!
Luís Guedes is teacher from the FIA Business School
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