The Miracle and Menace of AI Part 5

AI-Proofing Your Career and Your Mind

As Americans, how do we position ourselves for AI’s impact on the marketplace? My advice would be to find work in professions that require critical thinking, hands-on labor, human interaction, or creativity. Then, work hard and be the best at what you do.

Critical thinking and common sense are always in short supply, and America’s stock will only become scarcer as AI erodes our collective critical-thinking ability. There is a crucial distinction between intelligence and wisdom. Everyone with access to the internet has the capability to be “intelligent,” and AI will be able to mine data faster than a person. Wisdom, however, is concerned with how to apply that knowledge toward a desired outcome. Wise people will never need to worry about their livelihood, because those who can make good decisions will be rarer than ever.

Why are top executives paid so much money? It isn’t because they are that much smarter than, say, an engineering student fresh out of college. They earn top dollar because the company believes their decision-making skills will make and/or save the business more money than their salary.

AI-Proofing Your Career

For those who are not inclined to white-collar jobs, the skilled trades are seeing a resurgence. Young men are increasingly realizing that they can earn more by working with their hands without the huge debt burden of a four-year degree. Currently, women make up 57% of the college population, while men’s share has fallen to only 43%. AI will accelerate that trend.

Where I live in Western Pennsylvania, it is common to see Amish work crews constructing roofs or porches, and Amish-made furniture is given top billing in showrooms. While you might think the Amish would be the most vulnerable to the adverse effects of technology, abstaining from the internet, cars, and electricity has not made them destitute. On the contrary! Drive through the countryside, and you will see some very nice Amish homes. Why? Because handmade, quality craftsmanship will always be highly valued.

While AI chatbots can fake human conversation, there will still be jobs for those with relational talent. Nurses, the hospitality industry, athletic trainers, musical instructors, and political organizers are just a few examples of professions that rely on interpersonal skills. Some of the lower-level jobs in these areas could theoretically be filled by AI, but there will always be a market for excellence. Human nature craves genuine human interaction.

Lastly, the creative trades offer another refuge from AI. While Hollywood is expected to be decimated by AI, creativity and good writing offer a beacon of hope for workers in the entertainment industry. The same goes for graphic design. AI is good at making things that look nice but are somehow merely adequate because it takes preexisting things and combines them in new ways. Truly visionary masterpieces will always take top billing. Creating physical works of art also cannot be replaced: hands are still needed to make paintings, sculpt statues, or blow glass.

AI-Proofing Your Mind

As Christians, how do we protect ourselves and our families from the AI-induced brain atrophy? As with many challenges in life, the answers are simple to state but harder to accomplish.

Many books and articles are available on how to limit screen time and social media in a family context. Precautions against AI will be much the same. For your family, this means setting boundaries on where and how long devices are used, restricting children’s internet access, and keeping smartphones from kids until they are well into their teenage years.

Some parents may worry that their kids will fall behind in technological know-how if they don’t engage with AI. This is a misplaced concern. Children who are kept from social media and AI will develop vital skills in writing, art, conversation, athletics and — above all — critical thinking. They will have no trouble mastering how to use a smartphone when they become adults.

For the last two decades, anyone capable of performing a Google search has had access to orders of magnitude more information than the dusty volumes of Encyclopedia Britannica that used to grace private homes. Yet somehow, our society hasn’t exactly been awash in budding Einsteins. Simply being able to tap mountains of information does not confer understanding, much less common sense or discernment. AI doesn’t change this important distinction.

Instead, do what any parent born before 1980 did. Go outside and play with your kids, encourage their hobbies, make crafts, sign them up for a sport, assign chores around the house. Do things.

And above all, train your children to read from physical books. You should do the same. Research shows that reading comprehension is six to eight times better with physical books than with e-readers. Why? Digital devices tempt us to scroll, skim, and be distracted compared to words written on a page. Our brains are hard-wired for hard copy.

For adults, my advice is simple. If AI can speed up a routine task where you’d normally be mentally checked out, like searching through a database, go for it. Think of it like a “super Google.” Then, avoid AI when you are tempted to try to avoid using your brain. Sure, you could use AI to write up that email or summarize a quarterly report, but you really won’t have understood any of it or learned anything. Don’t succumb to brain atrophy.

What about our spiritual growth, though? How do we overcome challenges to our Christian communities and our faith itself in the age of AI? Come back tomorrow for the last installment in this series to find out.

Brandon Aldinger is a chemist with a doctoral degree who works in an industrial research laboratory. He’s had lifelong interest in issues of science and faith, and he is passionate about training fellow Christians to think clearly about and stand firm on their beliefs within a hostile culture.