Pulling the Rug under our Kids' Futures?

If you watched the recent UK “Dispatches” episode on AI and white-collar jobs, you would be forgiven for reaching for a stiff drink.

I definitely wouldn’t recommend watching it with your kids.

The fact that the TV Presenter turned out “herself” to be an AI agent was a great stunt by Channel 4 - a media first.

The comparison between human and AI tasks performed on the show, revealed a common dynamic. While the human performance was often better (and much more nuanced), the AI version could be undertaken at a fraction of the cost.

Over the past couple of weeks, Gen Z protests have erupted in many capitals around the emerging world, one of the key triggers being the lack of early career jobs. A phenomenon we may soon start to see in developed countries like the UK. In fact, I think this issue will be key in our next UK General Election - yet no political party in my country is even talking about it seriously.

It feels to me like our Generational Contract is fundamentally at risk of being broken. Any Society is built on the idea that we collectively invest in the development of a new generation, and therefore build the foundations of future stability and prosperity. That means investing in everything from Maternity Leave to Child Care to free school and subsidised universities.

But AI now tempts employers to (in economist speak) “free ride” - to harness older employees who have the knowledge and nuance to harness the AI best. And to largely eliminate or at least substantially reduce entry-level roles.

Essentially we are moving from a “Kind” Working Environment (where we hired people to work in structured, routinised job contexts) to a “Wicked” one, where people are only needed where there is precisely uncertainty, ambiguity and unpredictability and lack of structure. That favours those with experience.

In my next few articles on this Substack, I want to explore what we can do, individually (as a parent or leader or mentor of young people) and collectively (using our powerful and influential voice with our employers, politicians and wider institutions).

Individually, a lot will come down to how we as Parents or Leaders nurture what I term Accelerated Wisdom. In other words, elements like intrinsic motivation and resilience, persuasive and entrepreneurial skills, rapport and trust-building abilities; and the ability to learn, experiment and iterate. All of our traditional career wisdom (eg specialise in a profession or trade) may need to be thrown out the window, and fast. Lawyers may soon be valued as much for their therapeutic skills (helping their client sleep better at night) as their technical skills.

There will be some positive side-effects, for sure - for example, the outsize importance we’ve placed on pure intellectual ability may soon fade. The happiest parent I have met in the past weeks (there haven't been many ) was the mother of a young entrepreneurial electrician. Even within cognitive skills, there will be shifts. For example, there is a huge business case to revitalise humanities and arts education, because they simulate the ambiguity and uncertainty of what the working world will soon resemble.

At a Societal Level, we may need to consider some even more radical changes. For example, requiring employers to hire a fixed percentage of their workplace of younger generation, and/or providing strong tax incentives to do so. An employer’s Inter-generational approach will soon be a key component of their overall “license to operate”.

This may also require finally changing our education and training systems - and acknowledging the role of AI on them. There is a lot of work to do. Most leading universities haven’t even yet created coherent A.I. policies even for assessment. And we need to invest in disruptor organisations who are positively re-imagining the lives of next generations.

I want to be honest - I have close to zero trust that (almost entirely unregulated) Big Tech is going to find the answer. And while I think that while schemes like Universal Basic Income may help mitigate some of the transition, the research from my first book “Intrinsic” (https://amzn.eu/d/cBWSCX5) demonstrated how work gives us a way of helping and serving others, and creating purpose. Even while the nature of “Work” itself will evolve and become much far fluid and human.

We haven’t achieved Intergenerational Fairness for many of our economic strata. The American Dream, for example, has been broken for a long time for those from working class backgrounds. Now the Middle-Class Dream is at huge risk too.

This is a huge conversation. I am really grateful for the 60 Visiting Leaders and MBA Students I will be engaging on these topics with at the Generational Success Lab I have created at Oxford’s Said Business School, and through my client work. But that is just the start.

I really want to make sure that the same rug that pulled me up is there for my children, and for their Generation. I’m looking forward to going into depth into these in the coming weeks.

I would love your help and support. If you are interested in contributing to this effort in any way, please drop me a line! And please share this Substack with anyone you think it would be relevant for.

PS - this time (in honour of the Channel 4 documentary) I have used an AI-generated image of the risks in front of us