It’s no secret that artificial intelligence is becoming more commonly utilized in the workplace. But for some people, AI can feel like a threat to their jobs and their overall livelihood. That belief is debunked in the book Work Disrupted: Opportunity, Resilience, and Growth in the Accelerated Future of Work, written by Jeff Schwartz with Suzanne Riss. In this exclusive interview, Riss assures employees that artificial intelligence is an opportunity to explore new career paths, take risks, and how AI can enhance our lives both professionally and personally.
What I love about the book is that it highlights how AI is a pivotal part of the future of work but isn’t necessarily the Big Bad Wolf of the workplace.
Absolutely. The reason that author Jeff Schwartz wanted to write this book was to address this fear that many people have. They might think, “Robots are going to take my job,” or “I’m going to be out of work and become obsolete.” There are a lot of unknowns and that can be scary.
So the impetus for the book was addressing people’s fears of not knowing how far AI is going to impact jobs. What I found to be helpful, though, is the idea to face fear with facts, and the fact is that are more jobs have been created than destroyed. That’s what economists are saying and that’s important to keep in mind. I see it as a work revolution, and we should be ready to continually learn new things — but of course, that can be challenging.
So much about work has changed. For example, most of our grandparents worked at one company until they retired and got the gold watch at their goodbye party.
Absolutely. That’s what happened in the past, and that’s a rarity now. People are not working at the same company for 30 or 40 years — the companies may not even be around for 30 or 40 years. It’s getting used to the fact that it’s not one job: it’s three jobs, it’s five jobs, and adopting a different mindset.
And I like the idea of a growth mindset. It’s not fixed but rather about being flexible and learning new skills all the time. I’ve done that in my own career. I’ve been a journalist, a magazine editor, a Director of Communications and Marketing, and now I’m going back to school in the fall to get my Master’s in Social Work to become a therapist.
Oh, I love that.
I feel like that’s my life calling. I also see that my skills (like writing and reporting) are not going to be in as much demand as they have been in the past. I’m evolving with the times and the changes. For example, my son Jack will probably have a job that didn’t exist when I was in college, whether he’s a content creator or something else, but the point is that there are new jobs cropping up all the time.
I find that even if jobs change, there is always some connective tissue that marries the past to the present. For you, it’s the idea of service and helping other people, through writing stories and now in social work.
It’s about can you evolve, right? The jobs that the experts say are not going away in the near term have to do with relationships, such as the ones you might have with a therapist or a doctor. It’s thinking about what you enjoy, and then what are the new applications you can apply them to.
But that can be scary. How can you adopt an open mindset?
Embrace the fact that we all have to become lifelong learners, even if you stay in the same field, because every field is evolving. Try to find some joy and satisfaction in that and it will help you become more flexible.
I also think that it’s important to look at this as an opportunity to reinvent yourself and to either extend what you’ve already been doing or to go in a new direction and explore, say, three or four new careers. In workplaces, we’re seeing a lot more cross functional and cross generational interactions, which is allowing people to learn from one another. It’s not the time to be complacent.
In the book, we interviewed about 25 experts and the takeaway is how to embrace AI, keep your skills up-to-date and learn new ones, and make yourself indispensable. Make sure that there’s some place you can pivot — just don’t panic.
Let’s talk about your decision to go back to school. Do you think it would have happened had AI not entered the workplace?
That’s such a good question. Both of my parents were psychologists, and so this is something deeply rooted in how I was brought up and what I value. My mindset has always been one of service and helping others. At this point in my life, it was like a burning desire, and a confluence of all the right things happening at the right time. It was seeing what’s happening to my industry, assessing this stage of my career, and what would be the most meaningful to me. As someone who loves learning, I really wanted to gain new skills and find another application.
And to your point about extending what we already love doing, for me, it’s always been reporting. I love talking to people; I love learning about them, and so I’m taking my very favorite part of what I’ve been doing for so long and finding a new way to utilize it, which is interacting with people as a therapist, as someone who’s helping to guide them. It is an extension of what I’ve done and taking it to the next level.
It’s a moment to listen to that siren song inside you and accept that now might be the time to revisit that dream and see how you can make that happen.
It really is a chance to have a more meaningful life, and my hope is that people are going to continue to find ways to reskill, upskill, and find work that aligns with their values. Whether it’s the gig economy or all kinds of different freelance opportunities that are out there, now is the time to see what’s possible. It’s saying to yourself, “This is a chance to become who I’m really supposed to be.”