Generation X, don’t worry about losing your job to AI.

• Some Gen Xers may worry that the rapid rise of AI will have a negative impact on their job security.
• But for this age group born between 1965 and 1980, reality may be okay.
• In an AI-driven workplace, Gen X will have new responsibilities that may suit them.

Are there other Generation Xs reading headlines about artificial intelligence taking jobs and feeling a creeping existential dread?

Because while these emerging technologies hold great promise, they also have a way of making some of us feel, oh, the more mature workers will soon be obsolete.

For my generation, the prospect of AI is terrifying for several reasons. First, the mid-life period currently occupied by his Generation X, born between 1965 and 1980, is typically the time when people reach high positions in the workforce and reach the highest income age, both of which are AI-driven. is a threat to

And given that we lack the same level of technical fluency as younger generations born into this digital age, AI is terrifying for many of us. (I just mastered apps for different kids’ sports teams.)

Plus, you have fewer years left to retrain for your new career, and you just don’t have the time to do it anyway. We are in the sandwich phase of life. Many of us are caring for children and aging parents.

This means that it will be very inconvenient for AI to come to us for our work.

But what if Gen X’s reality wasn’t so bad? What if our jobs and hard-earned positions were okay or even better?

Research suggests that while some jobs will disappear, more new, better-paying jobs will be created. Either way, your job will change, says Yossi Sheffi, an engineering professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and author of a new book on AI and the future of work. “ChatGPT is not your replacement,” Sheffi told his Insider. “But it will change your job, so you have to learn.”

He said future work is likely to involve less content generation and more quality control. AI is imperfect and requires constant monitoring. In journalism, for example, AI can turn transcripts of interviews into news stories, but humans are still needed to provide oversight, judgment and context. (Phew!)

For Generation X, who are seasoned professionals within the organization, these new responsibilities may prove to be a great fit. On the other hand, Generation Z and younger workers who are not yet proficient in their jobs may struggle in AI-driven workplaces. It’s Gen X’s responsibility to make sure that doesn’t happen.

AI is not necessarily a youth game

When new technology emerges, it is usually the young who will benefit from it.

There is the assumption that young people are open to experimentation, willing to take risks, and adaptable, and that older, more expensive workers will soon be thrown out into the pasture.

But with the breakneck speed of AI progress, all bets are off, says Matt Bean, assistant professor of technology management at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He told insiders that the emergence of AI today would be like discovering electricity in the grid that already exists.

“Economists say it usually takes 10 to 20 years for a new general-purpose technology to take hold,” he said. “Maybe it’s faster this way. And it’s an illusion that a 22-year-old is okay.”

Bean mentioned how AI is already being used in medicine, for example. Before the rise of robotic surgery, there was a master-apprentice collaboration in which surgical trainees replaced senior surgeons with much of the preparatory work. This relationship allowed newcomers to develop the skills to be involved in procedures and one day be in charge. In robotic surgery, however, the chief surgeon takes the lead and almost eliminates the intern.

The same dynamics are repeated in other areas, Bean said. AI expands the productivity and capabilities of “experts” but leaves young people behind.

At the same time, he believes that experienced professionals do You have to understand how to use technology in the first place. As new tools emerge, this will become even easier. Meanwhile, young workers have an advantage. Not only are they digital natives, young people are usually freed from family and many obligations, giving them more time to learn.

Bean’s latest research points to a solution: reverse apprenticeships, in which younger employees teach older employees. “It’s like older people going to younger people and saying, ‘What’s this about TikTok, how can I be smart about it?'” he said.

But his research, which he conducted with New York University professor Karen Anthony, shows that life can be difficult for newcomers when older workers unwittingly steal knowledge from their peers. “Most handstand exercises are destructive for the subordinates because they end up being left out of the work of the seniors or overloaded with the subordinates,” Bean said.

“Experts have power, status, and skills so they don’t find themselves overwhelming novices on their way to mastering new skills,” he said.

As such, Gen X participants in these reverse training schemes have a responsibility to ensure that their younger colleagues acquire the know-how they need to succeed in their careers. One way she does that is by developing a skill that robots don’t have: emotional intelligence.

Embrace the missing humanity in AI

AI has many limitations. They can’t understand context, can’t form friendships, and lack a moral code.

Charla Griffey Brown, professor of information systems technology management at Pepperdine’s Graziadio School of Business, says these traits and competencies are what organizations will continue to use to recruit human employees, especially Generation X, who have extensive work experience. is the reason why it will be necessary in the future.

Certainly, Gen X’s fears that AI has significantly changed their retirement trajectory are understandable. “You’re at a point in your life where you’re naturally concerned about what’s going to happen next, and you’re thinking, ‘Am I competing with non-carbon-based workers now? There will be,” she says.

But that worry is misplaced. “Employers want people with skills and capabilities that go beyond machines,” she says.

Griffey Brown said interpersonal skills such as empathy and communication will be in high demand. “As social beings, human interaction is and will continue to be central to our work culture,” she said. “Companies need managers with emotional intelligence who can build relationships. These skills will become more important in the future.”

Those of Gen X who are still skeptical about AI—anxiety is our specialty, after all—will be comforted by this number. A recent study by recruiting firm Korn Ferry found that by 2030, the global talent shortage could exceed 85 million. According to research, this is roughly equal to the population of Germany. – Country analysis.

“AI will help fill this talent gap, not take our jobs,” said Simpplr, CEO of AI-powered employee productivity tools. Dhiraj Sharma told Insider.

Worrying is useless, he added. “Things are never as good or as bad as they seem,” he says. “It’s not about AI. It’s about nearly 50 years of life experience.”