Artificial intelligence is rapidly commoditising simple, fact-based knowledge work that's based on logic i.e. on patterns, numbers, data and information. Pretty much anyone with an Internet connection can now query anything and instantly tap into the global flow of data and information on almost any topic, whether it's on the web, in books, in videos or podcasts (try this is using my own AI bots:). Clearly, this could be heaven or it could be hell (what I call #hellven).

Powerful apps such as Google's NotebookLM make the gathering, summarizing and digestion of knowledge infinitely easier but they it may also propel effort avoidance, fake expertship and ‘slop generation‘ – and of course context, common sense, meaning and purpose is not the forte of AI-generated answers:)

Explicit knowledge is no longer really a competitive advantage – but implicit, tacit, holistic knowledge (or better, understanding) is becoming more essential. It is no longer about ‘what we know' but about what we understand; no longer just about intelligence (the ability to solve problems) but about consciousness (the ability to experience things). Being smarter is still a good thing, but being MORE HUMAN is better.

This has significant consequences on work and jobs (and education, of course) for pretty much any ‘collar‘ type but especially for white collar jobs such as admin tasks, accounting, book-keeping etc. Like I said: “If you work like a robot, a robot (AI) will take your job“.

Therefore, the future of Human Jobs is all about doing whatever the bots (both software as well as hardware) can't, won't and shouldn't do – see my animation below. For Knowledge Workers (like myself), I think this is very much a blessing but also a substantial challenge: I no longer need to ‘know everything' (and remember it, too) and yes, I can gather knowledge much faster, but instead I need to sharpen my understanding, improve my story-telling, clarify my narratives, zero in on the ‘telos' and hone my ‘wisdoms'

This new keynote will explain why we need to move ‘beyond knowledge', why it's not longer about more STEM skills (science, technology, engineering and math) but increasingly about HECI (humanity, ethics, creativity, imagination), how we can become more human despite the rise of AI, automation and virtualisation, where the new jobs will be, why we need to work on our mindsets, our personalities, our characters and traits, and why, within a decade, ‘work' will no longer be the main thing that provides identity, meaning and purpose:)

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Here is an infographic that should really worry us, in this context: AI generated content is quickly surpassing human-made content, on the web and even on Youtube.

… along with this infographic showing OpenAI's plans for achieving AGI

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Related: Read Bill Halal‘s book ‘Beyond Knowledge‘ and watch this YT conversation with him