“The future belongs to those who can imagine it, design it, and execute it. It isn’t something you await, but rather create.” Those words come from the ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed. As new workers and new technologies come to fruition such as generative AI (artificial intelligence), ChatGPT, metaverse, AR (augmented reality), VR (virtual reality), and more, we must consider how we live, work, and play with this new technology in new and exciting ways.
This is precisely what was discussed on a futurist online webinar I attended just this past December. The sublime panelist discussion was strong in sharing the value and hurdles because of the onslaught of emerging technology, and the unique use cases resulting from all this innovative technology in different vertical markets. One of the big takeaways if you read between the lines: the worker will be key in enabling all of this.
Rohit Talwar, futurist, Fast Future, suggests as we move into this new era, four characteristics will be very important: learning at speed, innovation, foresight, and transformative thinking.
“Right now, you are either a digital asset to your organization or a digital liability,” he says. “There isn’t anything in between.”
For today’s worker, he openly suggests learning is key. It is the antidote to fear, and it is the antidote to any kind of reluctance to change. Futurist Alexandra Whittington, Tata Consultancy Services, concurs noting that education and learning will be top of mind this year. She adds we will also need a new level of soft skills and we also begin to engage and talk to chatbots more regularly in life and in our work.
Perhaps the most interesting takeaway from this conversation is the fact that we must be on the lookout for workers who are going to shape this future, as Mohammed has said “those who can imagine it, design it, and execute it.”
A Case for the Metaverse
Sharad Agarwal, chief metaverse officer, www.cyber-gear.io, pointed to an extremely specific example in this webinar. He looked at unique game-changing applications in healthcare saying he is collaborating with a company out of Milan that is leveraging the metaverse of senses, meaning you can smell coffee in the metaverse, as one example.
This technology could translate in healthcare, where it would help a doctor be able to diagnose with 90% accuracy from a remote location. This particular project is being led by a Gen Zer, who is a 21-year-old who knows neuroscience and coding.
“These are the kind of people we need to be promoting and we need to be talking to, mentoring, guiding, etc., because these youngsters, I believe, are going to play an important role in shaping our future,” Agarwal says.
At the end of the day, the future is now—and it is going to be driven by technology and data, but only if we have the right people to do so. We must consider how we are guiding the next generation of workers if we want to have a better tomorrow. Our future starts there.
Want to tweet about this article? Use hashtags #IoT #sustainability #AI #5G #cloud #edge #futureofwork #digitaltransformation #green #ecosystem #environmental #circularworld #worker