A Lean East team member recently found this cool graphic about the evolution of the employee, shown below. We traced the image back to a book released in 2015 titled, The Future of Work: Attract New Talent, Build Better Leaders, and Create a Competitive Organization. While many aspects of the graphic below are true nine years later, we believe the recent growth in artificial intelligence (AI) models will lead to the continuing evolution of the employee in several ways.
Knowing The Right Prompts Is Key
The graphic above shows a shift in valuing results (outputs) rather than effort or time spent in the office. As AI models and interfaces become easier to interface within the near future, the key for many employees will be back to focusing on the inputs – using the right prompts – for leveraging AI tools.
This link shares example prompts and results for Midjourney, a generative artificial intelligence program and service. We’ve also included two example graphics created with Midjourney. Knowing the best prompts to provide your AI assistant is a definite advantage.
I recommend hiring managers create simple tests using AI prompts as part of the interviewing process. The candidates who know how to select the right AI tool and provide the right prompt will have 10X the output of an employee today.
Massive Increases In Efficiency
We all know that AI will lead to massive increases in employee productivity and efficiency. I see most routine administrative tasks being the first things that get simplified or replaced by AI. These are tasks like answering emails, writing memos, scheduling meetings, basic accounting, and timekeeping.
The 2015 graphic above mentions the conversion to employees using their own devices at work rather than company equipment. While this has mostly come true today, I believe the future will shift back to having companies own their own proprietary AI tools and models that build on the work of others. It will be important to share the work of the team, so when one employee creates a new graphic for a marketing campaign that graphic is available to the AI that every other team member uses.
Automated Admin Tasks
The increase in AI will replace some of the routine tasks currently handled by assistants. For example, the graphics, website uploads, and social media posts for this article about the continuing evolution of the employee will all be completed by an Administrative Assistant, not AI. However, I expect to see AI programs automate this work in the next several years. Midjourney, shown above, and other AI graphic programs can already likely create the graphics with the right prompts.
The Administrative Assistants who survive the increase in AI will be the ones who learn how to use the right tools and prompts to maximize their output. It would not be surprising to see some less technologically savvy leaders resist the move to AI. Similarly, some small businesses are not going to be early adopters of the technology. An Assistant who supports leaders using these new tools will be seen as an absolute wizard!
Expertise Handled By AI
Administrative assistants are not the only role that will be changed by AI. We also expect AI to replace other skills. For example, AI is likely to replace radiologists who scan X-rays and MRI images for abnormalities.
The rest of this section is the verbatim response to my prompt to Google’s AI, Gemini: “What jobs will be replaced by AI?”
Jobs at High Risk of Replacement by AI:
- Repetitive and Rule-Based Tasks: Jobs that involve following well-defined rules and procedures are prime targets for automation. Examples include data entry, assembly line work, and some aspects of customer service.
- Data Analysis and Processing: AI excels at analyzing large datasets and identifying patterns. This could lead to the automation of tasks like financial analysis, market research, and some scientific research tasks.
- Predictive Maintenance: AI can monitor equipment and predict failures before they happen. This could replace jobs like routine maintenance tasks performed by technicians.
- Driving and Transportation: Self-driving vehicles are actively being developed, which could significantly impact jobs in transportation like truck drivers and taxi drivers.
Jobs Likely to be Transformed by AI, Not Replaced:
- Healthcare: AI can assist doctors in diagnosis and treatment planning. However, the human touch and complex decision-making skills of doctors will still be crucial. Nurses, therapists, and other healthcare professionals will likely see their roles change as AI takes on more administrative tasks.
- Customer Service: AI chatbots can handle routine customer inquiries, but human customer service representatives will still be needed for complex issues and building relationships with customers.
- Sales and Marketing: AI can assist with tasks like lead generation and customer segmentation. However, human salespeople will still be needed for closing deals, building rapport, and providing personalized attention.
- Content Creation: AI can generate basic content like news summaries and product descriptions. However, human creativity, critical thinking, and storytelling skills will still be valued for high-quality content creation.
Teams Replaced By An Individual Using AI
The final update to the original evolution of the employee graphic above considers the likely result of the massive improvements to efficiency AI allows. Imagine a small company with eight employees who handle marketing. If AI allows an employee to become 10X more efficient at the job, the same company will only need one employee for the same output! This single employee will not need to collaborate or work with others, leading to additional efficiencies.
The efficiency assumptions above mean that jobs won’t be eliminated. There will just be fewer job openings for many positions. Teams will be replaced by efficient individuals.
What is unknown at this point is the other changes AI will bring. While a 10X gain in efficiency means one person replaces ten, we don’t know if companies will have the same needs. Maybe companies will have ten times the work to do in the future. Or there will be nine other jobs created that we don’t have a name for today!
Summary
Nobody knows for sure the continuing evolution of the employee, especially with AI involved. We do recommend that everyone look for ways that AI can help make our current job easier. We also recommend hiring employees with a growth mindset and readiness to learn how to use these new tools.
If you want to keep your knowledge on the matter current, you can always open up the latest AI model and give it this prompt:
My job is a ___(title)____ for ___(company)___. How can I best leverage artificial intelligence? What AI models should I be using and why?
Please share your questions and comments on this post below.