As artificial intelligence alters the educational landscape, the way workers earn credentials and qualifications could change as well. Accessible generative AI has the potential to help people see new possibilities for themselves and upskill their professional expertise at a faster rate, experts predict, potentially making career transitions more achievable across jobs and even industries.
According to Lareina Yee, senior partner at McKinsey, people with less tenure or years of experience are particularly embracing AI technology. “It accelerates their ability to demonstrate expertise,” Yee said. Strategic AI usage can speed up the time it takes for workers to reach peak performance in their role, which often makes up the first year of a job in corporate America, she said.
“If you’re able to climb that expertise ladder faster, you’re able to meet your objectives better, you’re able to do a better job,” Yee said. “Maybe it helps you with your performance review. Maybe it helps you get promoted faster. Maybe it just helps you enjoy your job.”
According to a McKinsey report from 2022 based on a decade of data, role transitions are inherent in labour markets. With increased human capital (or what McKinsey defines as “knowledge, attributes, skills, experience and health” of the worker) comes greater potential for upward mobility. The report found that about half of the people who moved roles got pay increases; those same people increased their earnings upwards of 45% with each transition.
Karen Panetta, a fellow at the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, and dean of graduate education at Tufts School of Engineering, agrees that AI is going to change the nature of work in the future. She says one thing AI will succeed at is removing the obstacles to exceptional learning. With these technological advancements, the barriers to entry may be lower for fields that currently require expensive schooling. “That’s definitely going to be a game changer,” Panetta said.
Sal Khan, founder of the free online non-profit educational platform Khan Academy, recently launched Khanmigo in partnership with OpenAI. The generative AI platform is a “tutor for learners” and an “assistant for teachers.” In the podcast “Unconfuse me with Bill Gates,” Khan cites the inaccessibility of live tutors for all students as a key reason why AI assistance can help students reach their educational benchmarks and, eventually, access professional opportunities they may not have otherwise been able to know about.
Meanwhile, the nonprofit organization All Star Code had a scholar visualize themselves progressing in their tech career over the next decade by creating a 30-second video using the generative AI platform Runway. Sometimes, simply envisioning possibilities is enough to make a difference in a young person’s long-term trajectory. The importance of successful career transitions positively impact people’s lives through increased job satisfaction and upward class mobility, and AI has the potential to help people achieve this by democratizing learning.
