Recent years have seen a paradigm shift in how the understanding and interpretation of skills are changing due to rapid technological advances. The advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) is leading to a major revolution in the way work is done across many industries.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is becoming increasingly sophisticated and, in many cases, replacing the need for traditional human labour. This advancement in AI opens up a whole new world of possibilities for how work is done across many industries. In the near future, many skills that are still highly valued today may be replaced by AI, however in some fields like youth work, human resources are likely to remain a necessity.
In youth work, empathy, ethics, attitude and other forms of soft skills are essential and will continue to be vital in the long-term. AI cannot provide these human qualities that a youth worker needs to foster an environment of trust and understanding, navigate intricate ethical situations, and more. Youth work is often powered by the positive relationship between a youth worker and youths and no AI can ever replace that.
Nevertheless, AI and automation can be extremely useful tools for youth workers. AI-based chat bots, for example, can be used to answer common questions and diagnose issues with consistency and accuracy. It can also be used to accurately store and analyse data, freeing up work time so youth workers can focus more on productive activities.
Another example where AI can be used to replace certain skills used in youth work is in service provision. AI can take over repetitive tasks usually handled by human workers. This can allow for near-instantaneous access to data processing as well as enable more precise and precise recommendations based on data.
In youth work, AI-based chat bots can also be a useful tool to learn more about the challenges that a young person might be facing. AI chat bots can be designed to accurately detect issues and offer solutions tailored to the situation. AI can be used to accurately store and analyse data, freeing up work time for youth workers so they can attend to other critical tasks.
Further, AI can also be used to automate mundane tasks such as filling out forms and writing reports, freeing up the need for these to be handled by a human worker. This allows a faster, more efficient and accurate service provision, and gives an opportunity for more data-driven decisions to be made.
AI also gives the opportunity to quickly process repetitive tasks and generate data-driven insights which can be used to better inform decision making. This could be beneficial in youth work, where having access to accurate and up-to-date information is essential.
In conclusion, AI is certainly making its way into many aspects of work, including youth work, however, when it comes to the more important elements of youth work, human resources are and will continue to be an essential part of the equation. While AI can be used to automate and streamline certain processes, it cannot replace the unique human qualities that are essential to youth work.
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The aim of this article is to raise attention to how AI has already been gaining relevance and started the paradigm shift in skills in youth work – not only in its content but the fact that this article was written by AI (ChatGPT).
The article is the contribution of Eszter Kósa (BCI), from the Lost Millennials project
