Pearson CEO: As AI advances, workers need to upskill or be left behind

The rapid development of artificial intelligence (AI) and generative AI (GenAI) is changing the workplace, and workers need to be prepared. According to Andy Bird, CEO of education giant Pearson Education, most workers will need to upskill or reskill in order to keep up with the demands of the new AI-powered economy.

According to an interview Bird had with Fortune magazine, “Artificial Intelligence (AI) is moving faster than real life”, and “represents a widening skills gap that workers need to keep up with.”

Experts fear AI may even lead to destruction greater than a nuclear catastrophe if it grows and is utilized too quickly, according to Stanford University researchers. Hyperbole? A bit, but the power of AI is increasingly becoming clear across the world.

Adopt AI or get left behind: AI is here to stay

Workers shouldn’t fear that AI is going to take their job, at least in the near term. Some things will always require a human touch. But the majority of white collar workers are going to need to adjust to the new reality of AI supplementing the workforce.

Generative AI and AI models should not (yet) be viewed as able to fully replace humans, but can greatly aid productivity and efficiency of white collar workers.

OpenAI’s ChatGPT and GPT-4 along with big tech companies such as Microsoft and Google are rapidly integrating AI and GenAI tightly into their solutions. There is no turning back from AI and GenAI, despite many calls for a pause and government regulation.

The best thing white collar workers can do today is embrace AI and GenAI tools in an effort to become more efficient, productive, and learn new skills. Adapt to the new AI reality, or be left behind, Bird argues.

Bird points out that AI is already being used to automate many tasks that were once done by humans. For example, AI can now be used to generate reports, write code, and even automatically rebook a traveler who missed their flight connection. This means that workers who do not have the skills to work with AI will be at a significant disadvantage.

Pearson: Workers need to Upskill and Reskill with AI

Upskilling and reskilling employees will be essential as AI continues to revolutionize the workforce. And Pearson wants to become a new platform of choice for white collar workers trying to

The shift for Pearson into AI adoption courses is a necessary reality for the company. Pearson has long been known for its advanced prep and training courses for advanced graduate degree programs such as the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT) and Law School Admission Test (LSAT). But those, among many other tests, are increasingly coming under pressure by educational institutions to be heavily modified or dropped.

“Needless to say, awareness of (if not expertise in) AI is vital, even in lower-stakes settings. Consider a bank whose leaders knew it needed to shift from retail banking into digital banking. That [shift] would make all the retail bankers and the cashiers in the branches redundant,” Bird explained.

Workers who are no longer hired for teller positions and analog banking can be replaced with digital natives who support digital banking operations, Bird analogized.

The good news is that there are many resources available to help workers upskill. Pearson Education, for example, offers a variety of online courses that teach workers the basics of AI. Other organizations, such as the World Economic Forum, also offer training programs.

However, it is important to note that upskilling is not a one-time event. As AI continues to evolve, workers will need to continue to learn new skills in order to stay ahead of the curve.

Just as cloud computing, big data, and cybersecurity have been critical skills for the technology industry over the last 20 years, AI is the dominant skill tech workers will need to embrace today.

Google, among many other tech companies, is offering 7 free generative AI courses for tech workers and engineers alike to learn the fundamentals of AI and Generative AI.