The Job Market is Getting Exciting
Two jobs caught my attention this week. The LinkedIn algorithm gods figured out I would find these roles exciting, and they were not wrong.
I've been waiting for this moment for a couple of years now. While everyone is concerned about AI taking away jobs, history tells us that transformative technological changes like the ones we're experiencing now also create jobs. We're starting to see this happen.
The following two jobs popped up in my feed:
Both were posted a week ago. The AI Response Writer position stopped accepting applications within two days. The Director role at EY, which pays between $222,900 and $417,900 if you live in the New York area, has only received 52 applications as of the time I took this screenshot.
I find this to be fascinating.
First, let's acknowledge the extraordinary part: neither of these roles existed until now. Two years ago, such job descriptions would have made no sense to anyone reading them.
The responsibilities of the AI Response Writer/AI Prompt Writer/Generative AI Writer include:
Re-writing and improving AI-generated responses, adhering to specific writing guidelines (factuality, formatting, and style).
Ensuring adherence to the QA framework provided and giving feedback on ways to improve writing guidelines.
Look at the requirements for this role:
The ability to research and validate facts is a must.
2+ years of work experience with Artificial Intelligence (AI).
They're not asking for a degree in computer science or a PhD in Artificial Intelligence. ChatGPT was released on November 30, 2022. Everyone who has been playing around with LLMs since then meets the work experience requirement.
To highlight this point even more, the job description explicitly indicates who would be a good candidate:
Good candidates include but are not limited to: English teachers, journalists, technical writers, fiction writers, creative writers, mathematicians, web content writers, current affairs writers, editors, expert AI teachers, etc.
We're seeing a melding of backgrounds into brand new roles that have never existed before.
Now, let's look at what EY is seeking in their Growth & Future Skills Business Partner role.
Clearly, EY is trying to figure out how to incorporate AI into their operations:
As Growth & Future Skill Director, you'll elevate how we understand and apply the new frontier of AI augmented work in our organization. You will be at the forefront of how EY leverage technologies such as Generative AI by building the knowledge, skills and capabilities that will be a key driver of how we embrace the future of work and how we create value for our clients.
They're taking a very aspirational tone:
This is your challenge to influence and shape the AI and future of work skills landscape of EY and our clients, to build a powerful AI legacy.
What do they want this person to do?
Build and drive the global AI learning strategy.
Assemble and lead a high-performing, multi-disciplinary and cross-functional 'AI & Future of Work' team across the disciplines of AI, learning, behavioral change and organizational practice.
Even though it isn’t explicitly stated, this must be a brand new role since the person would be tasked with assembling a team from scratch.
Are they looking for someone with a degree in AI? No. They want someone with a degree in Learning and Development, Human Resources, Organizational Psychology, or Organizational Development.
They want a basic understanding of AI, but with hands-on experience using AI technologies, which makes perfect sense:
A nuanced understanding of AI basics, coupled with experience in machine learning, natural language processing, and other AI technologies.
The remarkable part is that EY has 23 of these job openings around the world. They're looking for people in:
Toronto, London, Berlin, Paris, Sydney, Houston, Philadelphia, Shanghai, Los Angeles, Detroit, and a dozen other major cities across North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia.
Without a doubt, EY is serious about embracing AI and making it and the future of work knowledge and skills a foundational component of their organization-wide culture.
EY might be at the forefront of making this significant investment into the future of work, but they won't be the only ones.
If you ever needed a reminder about the importance of staying on top of AI developments, let this be it. Yes, everything is moving very fast, and it can feel overwhelming. However, if you can spend just a couple of hours a week using various AI models, figuring out the differences in their outputs, and understanding the use cases, you'll be far ahead of the majority of people.
While bachelor's degrees used to be a default requirement for nearly every job over the past several decades, going forward, it will be the ability to use AI.
I'm fascinated by seeing brand new jobs that didn't exist even 12 months ago. I'm actively seeking them out and studying them. If you come across a brand new role like the two I mentioned, please send it to me so I can add it to my database.
I have a personal take on the new role - focusing on teachers, journalist, writers and so on. One of my mentees, was recruited last year for remote tasks as gig, to correct, audit the corrections, and enhace answers from AI. She rendered services for two startups who by their turn were hired by the big techs in their AI initiative.