In the past couple of years, there has been hardly a week that has gone by that ABD hasn’t reported about AI or cyber technology growth in the CSRA.
In four days at the end of January, 1000 employers representing 14 million workers met with economic leaders at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland. Much of the discussion revolved around the WEF’s Future of Jobs report.
The 94-page report highlighted the role of AI in reshaping industries and tasks across all sectors. Postal service clerks, executive secretaries, and payroll clerks are among the jobs that employers expect to experience the fastest decline in numbers in coming years; others include telemarketers, bank tellers, travel agents, inventory managers, and quality control inspectors, among others.
The good news is that we seem to be on track with world leaders’ predictions and recommendations. That speaks volumes about advancements in technology, particularly AI and information processing, robotics and automation, and energy generation, storage, and distribution right here at home.
These trends are expected to have a huge impact on jobs, driving both the fastest-growing and fastest-declining roles, and fueling demand for technology-related skills, including AI and big data, networks and cybersecurity, and technological literacy, which are anticipated to be the top three fastest-growing skills.
Sharon Martin, owner of Managed Nerds, a CSRA Tech expert, and a weekly contributor to ABD, recommends being proactive.
“The number one thing workers in at-risk positions should be doing right now is upskilling their ability to use AI for work-related tasks, that will help distinguish them from their peers getting the axe. The employer is likely to retain someone who can use the AI tools they are shelling out the $$ for and who can train others how to use those tools. Some classes that would be worth looking at since you get learning certificates or completion badges are:
- Microsoft Copilot: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/training/browse/?products=ms-copilot&resource_type=learning%20path
- Google Gemini: https://workspace.google.com/blog/training-and-support/learn-google-workspace-and-gemini-these-demand-guides-and-training-options-beginner-advanced
- ChatGPT – There’s not a guide written by them or training by them, which ironically is why ChatGPT training is so much in demand. I’m going to continue focusing on ChatGPT in EntrepreAI classes for that reason.
The next session of the EntrepreAI class will be held Tuesday, February 25, from 11:45 AM until 12:45 PM at the Georgia Cyber Center, Hull McKnight Building at the Clubhou.se. For more information, click here.
Other boxes that click the growth mentioned in the Future Jobs Report at the World Economic Summit were technology. As ABD reported in September, Meta, one of the top five U.S. information technology companies, has invested $800 million in a new data center in Aiken County’s Sage Mill Industrial Park. When up and running, the center will create 100 new jobs supporting Meta’s artificial intelligence (AI) workloads.
Augusta is known as the Cyber City, and after a week-long conference at Tech Net Augusta, 6,000 cyber professionals created spending of more than $3 million, as we reported last August.
In January, Dr. Simon Medcalfe, an Economics professor and contributor to ABD, reported that Augusta is set to benefit from the increasing use of Large Language Models (LLMs), a type of artificial intelligence (AI) model that can understand and generate human language. Augusta is ranked second in a list of Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) that may benefit from technological change.
As ABD has reported, hospitals and clinics in the CSRA are utilizing robotics for surgeries and Artificial Intelligence to pinpoint high-risk patients. Area universities, including AU, are also positioned to train the area workforce.
Dr. Candis Bond, Director of the Writing Center and Assistant Professor of English at Augusta University, about how Augusta is positioned to train the AI workforce. Bond recently led a forum on AI for the leadership team at the university.
Bond believes the reason AI is currently so popular is because “It made a big leap from possibility to actuality in a relatively short time frame. She said people have used programs like Grammarly, which is a form of AI, for many years. But those generally offer AI to assist a person with something they have created. Now, AI is becoming the creator.”
Sharon Martin says it’s important that high schools and colleges add Generative AI to basic classes around computer usage, where they have traditionally taught students how to use common office applications. “AI literacy is now becoming as important as computer literacy, so educational institutions need to ensure they are empowering future workers to stay ahead of the curve.”
“I think it’s less likely that we will see AI replacing humans in jobs, resulting in those humans being fired, and more likely we see businesses choosing not to hire more individuals because their current workforce has been made more productive due to using AI to augment their skills.”
Editor’s Note:
Mitzi Oxford is a veteran broadcaster and features writer who also worked at the same television station in Columbus, Georgia as Augusta’s Brad Means! If you have a South Carolina story idea for Mitzi, please email her at mitzioxfordcreative@gmail.com.
