[0:00]It's easy to imagine a future filled with flying cars, holograms and never-ending viral videos. But as the future of work becomes more and more digital, it becomes harder to grasp what that will actually look like and how we will fit into it. We have the opportunity to say like, what is it that really takes the most advantage of people's ingenuity and creativity. There's always these moments where technology has forced us into a different direction, and in most cases, it's been positive. We can think of robots and AI as helping you to remove the most redundant parts of your day and your life, so you can focus on the higher-level thinking. I'm excited about that future. For the vast majority of us, the workplace is rapidly changing, and it can feel like we're speeding towards the unknown. By 2025, 85 million jobs may be displaced by technological advancements, which is a scary number. But at the same time, 97 million new rules may emerge that will be adapted to a new division of labor between humans, machines, and algorithms. There are a whole host of emerging industries that will create a range of new jobs, just one of which is drone piloting. Andy and nthambi from Wingcopter are using drones to help improve people's lives. We are currently optimizing supply chains in Malawi, specifically delivering medicine. Transit is not possible through roads, so drones come in and help poorer and less advantaged people have access to medicine. And what's really interesting right now with the drone industry is we're seeing drone academies in Benin and Sierra Leone that are essentially addressing the skill gap in Africa when it comes to this high-tech technology. So I see drone technology being such an emerging market that allows for opportunities, not just in piloting, but in maintenance, in auxiliary staff, and in other sectors. For many people, automation is a scary word because they think of machines that are essentially taking away their job. What we all have to realize is that through technology, we are actually going to have better standards, better skilled jobs, more opportunity, and traditional jobs will transition into new and more exciting jobs for the future. Andy and nthambi's work is representative of many of these new roles, taking machines and making them work for us. In the same way that workers had to learn how to use the machines and tools in the first industrial revolution, it's going to be up to us to learn how to use the tools of the future in this fourth industrial revolution. That means more people learning how things like software and robots function. You can't teach an old dog new tricks just isn't going to fly anymore. People working today will see the share of their core skills change by up to 40% in the next five years. Reskilling will become key to this transition. The good news is that it's never been easier to learn new skills. Many companies are prioritizing training to build a secure future for themselves and their employees, with two out of three expected to see a return on investment in reskilling their workforce. What's more, the Internet has made self-education both accessible and affordable. Chris set up creative education company, The Futur, to help people make a living doing what they love. Everything that you want to learn is available on the Internet, and we can explore in ways that are very low risk to us. Because imagine the old approach, which is I have to submit an application to university or college, and so that means there's a whole bunch of prep work I have to do. And even for some people, that mission fees and essays, the barrier to entry is just too high. In this way, I think, um, especially with all the resources, workshops, courses, e-books, training, one-on-one mentorship, peer groups, all that kind of stuff, that's available at very low cost, so you can dip your toes into something, find out if this is a good fit for you, and then decide this is where I want to do a deep dive, and you can learn at your own pace, which I love. Doesn't seem quite as scary now, does it? Still, you'd be forgiven for thinking that the future is going to be all ones and zeros. Although digital literacy is going to be incredibly important, it is, in fact, the soft skills that are going to be at the core of the average future worker. In a world where hybrid remote working will be more common, self-awareness and self-management will be king. Roles centered around employee well-being and community will become more important, and emotional intelligence will be necessary for managers to provide proper support and foster happier, more fulfilled teams. We may even start to see official certification of these soft skills, allowing for greater freedom to transfer between industries. One of these growing industries will be the care economy. With our ever-growing and aging population, care for the elderly, the vulnerable, and children will become a high priority. In a society that's increasingly putting well-being above other concerns, this sort of job will become more common as investment moves to social infrastructure. Andrea is discovering how investing in robots is making hospital care more human-centered. Even before the pandemic, we were already seeing the care sector being stretched and there being a renewed focus on how do we really kind of stem the burnout that people are feeling. You can talk to most nurses and clinicians like the part of their job that they love the most is when they have that kind of deep connection with their patients. And so, I think it's great if we can think of ways that automation like Moxy taking away some of the mundane delivery tasks can kind of open up more time for the, the parts of a person's job that they really love. There may end up being more and more interactions that that patients have with automation and technology, but in the end, that caregiving experience that you have that's really person to person, I don't see how that's ever going to go away. As you can see, far from the uncaring image of technology and science fiction, it can actually increase our capacity to take care of each other. It can also help us to care for our planet. In the coming years, climate action is going to need to kick into overdrive. And this means two things: innovation and new jobs. Just one example of these jobs is coral farming. With more coral reefs dying off each year, coral restoration is more important than ever. But the current process is labor intensive and requires an advanced skill set. However, people like Stephen are using technology to open up these coral farming roles to a wider group. Charm is a device that allows coral restoration practitioners the ability to grow thousands to hopefully millions of coral by the touch of a button. This robot will have onboard the artificial intelligence and the ability to clean coral, feed coral when they're hungry, identify pests, and do the general maintenance tasks that a lot of people need to do, but don't quite have the time or resources. There is a growing need for people to be working in this space for green technology, for sustainable practices. What we actually need is a group of people to say, this is the kind of future that we want, where we integrate technology with the environment and we flourish. And we want to have a job in an industry that promotes thriving.
[7:13]The future of work is coming. For some, it's already here. It can be a bright future, a future that can improve our well-being and the well-being of the planet. So while automation can sound scary, with careful regulation and policies that promote equal opportunities and inclusion, there are ways it can make our working lives happier, more effective, more human.
