A Nobel Prize-winning labor market economist has cautioned young people against piling into science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) subjects, saying “empathetic” and creative skills might thrive in a world dominated by artificial intelligence (AI).
Christopher Pissarides, professor of economics at the London School of Economics, said that workers in certain information technology (IT) jobs risk sowing their “own seeds of self-destruction” by advancing AI that would eventually take the same jobs.
While Pissarides said he is an optimist on AI’s overall effect on the jobs market, he raised concerns for those taking STEM subjects hoping to ride the coattails of the technological advances.
Photo: AFP
Despite rapid growth in the demand for STEM proficiency, jobs requiring more traditional face-to-face skills, such as in hospitality and healthcare, would still dominate the jobs market, he said.
“The skills that are needed now — to collect the data, collate it, develop it and use it to develop the next phase of AI, or, more to the point, make AI more applicable for jobs — will make the skills that are needed now obsolete because it will be doing the job,” he said in an interview. “Despite the fact that you see growth, they’re still not as numerous as might be required to have jobs for all those graduates coming out with STEM because that’s what they want to do.”
“This demand for these new IT skills, they contain their own seeds of self destruction,” he added.
The popularity of STEM subjects has boomed in the past few years as students seek to make themselves more employable, but The rapid rise of AI could transform the labor market, making some tasks and roles obsolete.
However, in the long-term, managerial, creative and empathetic skills, including communications, customer services and healthcare, would likely remain high in demand as they are less replaceable by technology, particularly AI.
“When you say the majority of jobs will be jobs that will involve personal care, communication, good social relationships, people might say: ‘Oh, God, is that what we have to look forward to in the future?’” Pissarides said. “We shouldn’t be looking down at these jobs. They’re better than the jobs that school leavers used to do.”
DIVIDED VIEWS: Although the Fed agreed on holding rates steady, some officials see no rate cuts for this year, while 10 policymakers foresee two or more cuts There are a lot of unknowns about the outlook for the economy and interest rates, but US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell signaled at least one thing seems certain: Higher prices are coming. Fed policymakers voted unanimously to hold interest rates steady at a range of 4.25 percent to 4.50 percent for a fourth straight meeting on Wednesday, as they await clarity on whether tariffs would leave a one-time or more lasting mark on inflation. Powell said it is still unclear how much of the bill would fall on the shoulders of consumers, but he expects to learn more about tariffs
NOT JUSTIFIED: The bank’s governor said there would only be a rate cut if inflation falls below 1.5% and economic conditions deteriorate, which have not been detected The central bank yesterday kept its key interest rates unchanged for a fifth consecutive quarter, aligning with market expectations, while slightly lowering its inflation outlook amid signs of cooling price pressures. The move came after the US Federal Reserve held rates steady overnight, despite pressure from US President Donald Trump to cut borrowing costs. Central bank board members unanimously voted to maintain the discount rate at 2 percent, the secured loan rate at 2.375 percent and the overnight lending rate at 4.25 percent. “We consider the policy decision appropriate, although it suggests tightening leaning after factoring in slackening inflation and stable GDP growth,”
Meta Platforms Inc offered US$100 million bonuses to OpenAI employees in an unsuccessful bid to poach the ChatGPT maker’s talent and strengthen its own generative artificial intelligence (AI) teams, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has said. Facebook’s parent company — a competitor of OpenAI — also offered “giant” annual salaries exceeding US$100 million to OpenAI staffers, Altman said in an interview on the Uncapped with Jack Altman podcast released on Tuesday. “It is crazy,” Sam Altman told his brother Jack in the interview. “I’m really happy that at least so far none of our best people have decided to take them
As they zigzagged from one machine to another in the searing African sun, the workers were covered in black soot. However, the charcoal they were making is known as “green,” and backers hope it can save impoverished Chad from rampant deforestation. Chad, a vast, landlocked country of 19 million people perched at the crossroads of north and central Africa, is steadily turning to desert. It has lost more than 90 percent of its forest cover since the 1970s, hit by climate change and overexploitation of trees for household uses such as cooking, officials say. “Green charcoal” aims to protect what