on november 30, 2022, chatgpt exploded in popularity, leading to the emergence of various generative artificial intelligence technologies such as baidu's wenxin yiyuan, alibaba's tongyi qianwen, google's gemini, openai's sora, and others swiftly following suit. particularly, this year's government work report proposed deepening the research and application of big data, artificial intelligence, and other technologies, launching the " artificial intelligence " action, and building internationally competitive digital industry clusters.
this marks the first time that "artificial intelligence " has been explicitly mentioned in a government work report. leveraging immense computational power and the dividends of big data, the learning capabilities of generative artificial intelligence algorithms continue to iterate, expanding their influence over an increasingly broad audience. the unstoppable impact of this trend also urgently requires us to reexamine the current positioning of professions and the inherent value of human roles.
generally speaking, the work content of all human professions is a combination of "generic skills specialized knowledge creative thinking interpersonal communication skills."
generic skills are basic abilities required for all jobs, such as reading and writing abilities, which form the foundation of work skills. specialized knowledge consists of a set of domain-specific expertise in fields such as medicine, law, engineering, and others. creative thinking facilitates the generation of novel and useful ideas. interpersonal communication skills represent the ability to interact with others in a friendly manner, convey information, and resolve conflicts through the exchange of emotions, attitudes, thoughts, and viewpoints.
based on the distribution of competency in these four basic dimensions across different clusters of occupations, professions can be categorized into three types: "worker" type, "teacher" type, and "expert" type. together, they form the pyramid structure of the labor market in this era. unlike the horizontal impact of previous technologies, the development of artificial intelligence vertically affects and even threatens every category of workers from the bottom to top. it's not a matter of whether, but a question of when and to what extent. however, different professions face different "risks" and "opportunities" at present.
“risks” and “opportunities" for "worker" type professions:
workers constitute the most basic and common workforce. occupations like cashiers, waiters, librarians, etc., exist in the most subtle corners of life, utilizing the most basic skills to serve the widest range of people. generally speaking, "worker" type occupations possess high general skills, low specialized knowledge, low creative thinking, and low interpersonal communication abilities.
the "risk" faced by "worker" type professions:
（1）threat to essential general skills:
typically, their work may be relatively straightforward and less competitive due to external factors like salary level and social status. however, with the disruptive entry of artificial intelligence into this industry, in the form of self-checkout machines or library management systems, these systems do not consider factors like wages and status. they gradually replace the general skills possessed by these workers, directly threatening the existence of "worker" type jobs.
（2）long-term low specialization and low creativity foster cognitive inertia, increasing the cost of cross-disciplinary learning:
the relatively easy work content over the long term has led to higher cognitive inertia among these workers, establishing barriers to the adoption of new knowledge and technology. this diminishes their willingness and capacity to learn, thereby increasing the cost of cross-disciplinary learning. consequently, transitioning to other occupations becomes challenging.
the "opportunities" for "worker" type professions:
(1) strive to be the "warmth" amidst the "coldness" of automation.
in the face of challenges, find the right position, adjust your mindset, and reject blind resistance to artificial intelligence. instead, collaborate with ai and leverage personal initiative to address customer concerns that ai may overlook, showcasing unique empathetic abilities. just as the renowned hotpot chain haidilao which has continuously automated and even created unmanned hotpot restaurants, where ordering, ingredient preparation, dish serving, and serving are all replaced by robots, they have retained human servers for engaging conversations, allowing them to focus more on personalized customer service.
in the future, such warm services will only become more precious with the prevalence of machines. therefore, "worker" types need to enhance their interpersonal communication skills, provide customers with more personalized services, and become "workers" with emotional intelligence.
(2) awaken oneself and strive for self-transformation.
although mental inertia is irreversible, it requires us to step out of our comfort zone. while mental inertia and reduced learning ability may increase the cost of learning, technological advancements provide people with more learning opportunities, reducing the threshold for learning.
for instance, online training breaks the constraints of time and location, offering people more diverse choices; gamified learning models enhance the fun and challenge of learning, motivating individuals to engage in experiential learning environments. "worker" types must learn to effectively utilize these resources, find suitable learning paths, improve their learning abilities, and promote self-transformation.
the "risks" and "opportunities" for "teacher" type professions:
"teacher" refers to individuals who impart knowledge or excel in a particular skill. teachers, lawyers, consultants—they possess specialized expertise applied to problem-solving, realizing self-worth through intellectual labor and knowledge application.
typically, "teacher" type professions possess intermediate-level general skills, advanced-level specialized knowledge, intermediate-level creative thinking, and advanced-level interpersonal communication abilities.
the "risks" faced by "teacher" type professions:
(1) the universalization of specialized knowledge poses risks of downward social mobility.
teachers are often experts in their field, relying on a unique knowledge system to address the unknown. however, with the abundance of data and information, trained into a more organized intelligent library by algorithms, numerous related cases and knowledge are no longer out of reach. under this trend, with more specialized knowledge being universalized and commodified, "teacher" types overly reliant on past "specialized capital" may face a downgrade to "worker" types, leading to risks and anxieties of downward social mobility.
(2) long-term investments in highly specialized human capital have led to path dependency, creating cognitive inertia and increasing the cost of absorbing and creating new knowledge.
on one hand, the reliance on existing knowledge over the long term reinforces their self-confidence and narrows their perspective, even leading to cognitive rigidity. however, ai's learning ability in standardized content means that anything traceable can be perfectly replicated.
on the other hand, the low-cost acquisition of explicit knowledge demands higher levels of knowledge depth and breadth. reliance on existing knowledge renders "teacher" types unable to fully comprehend the new contexts of the human-machine era, fostering a resistance to artificial intelligence. faced with this situation, how to break through cognitive inertia, and even abandon sunk costs, to achieve knowledge renewal and creation are profound questions for "teacher" types to contemplate.
the "opportunities" for "teacher" type professions:
(1) strengthen the foundation, become a true "auditor" of knowledge.
in the current environment of mixed information, “teachers” must be able to discern the true from the false. by embodying more appropriate value judgments and transmitting more accurate knowledge content, they can establish a more reliable information repository.
(2) embrace and utilize artificial intelligence, become the "new teacher" of the human-machine era.
the continuous evolution of technology accelerates the iteration of knowledge updates. as "teacher" types who possess a wealth of tacit knowledge, they should seize the opportunity to learn and absorb new knowledge, upgrade their knowledge system, and rapidly build their own "human-machine" capital. in addition to accuracy, considerations for humanization and contextualization have become goals pursued by people in the age of artificial intelligence.
these goals also require "teacher" types to maintain higher levels of interpersonal and human-machine sensitivity, utilizing artificial intelligence to quickly acquire explicit knowledge, and abstracting it into implicit knowledge that artificial intelligence temporarily cannot consider, thereby becoming the "new teachers" in their respective fields.
the “risks” and “opportunities” of “master” type professions
experts, referring to individuals who possess specialized knowledge or extensive practical experience in a particular field. scientists, artists, physicists—these individuals stand at the forefront of knowledge, contributing to the establishment of industry standards in their respective fields. they hold influence over public perception of their industries and generate the foundational knowledge and underlying logic that support new technologies in their fields. "home" type professions encompass a blend of moderate-level general skills, advance-level specialization knowledge, creative thinking, and moderate-level interpersonal communication skills.
the "risks” for "master" type professions:
(1) the threshold for innovation is rising, leading pseudo-"experts" to declare their withdrawal.
creative thinking is founded on innovative thinking based on accumulated knowledge and disruptive innovation based on groundless association. the latter serves as a crucial criterion for identifying innovative and creative talents, while pseudo-"experts" reliant solely on accumulated knowledge will be ousted from the field.
(2) leveraging remarkable data and intelligent search capabilities, generative artificial intelligence can achieve a diverse array of combinatory innovations, elevating them to the ranks of minor "experts." they progressively drive innovation to its zenith, enabling true “experts” to create innovations meaningful to humanity.
(3) with astounding learning capabilities and linguistic prowess, ai is also competing for public discourse.
technologies such as generative artificial intelligence based on large language models cannot achieve rigorous logical reasoning and groundbreaking knowledge creation, but their ability to learn from existing knowledge and astonishing expressive abilities have surpassed those of many humans. this implies that existing "expert" type professionals are gradually showing signs of decline in integrating or popularizing creative knowledge and practices. the traditional power structure of sole "experts" is also being reshaped. the suggestion that "experts no longer advise" may become "let generative artificial intelligence speak more."
the “opportunities” of "expert" type professions:
(1) self-reflection promotes professional transformation.
prominent "experts" who focus on combinatory innovation need to reassess their capabilities and value. they should proficiently apply their extensive professional knowledge, integrate their experiences, and address more specialized issues, thereby promoting a transition towards "teacher" type talents. they should also challenge themselves to open up new perspectives and approaches, fostering more disruptive innovations for the industry and even human development. undoubtedly, the development of artificial intelligence liberates "experts" from many routine and basic tasks, allowing them to dedicate more energy to exploration and the creation of new knowledge, to seek truth and pragmatism, thereby creating favorable conditions for innovation.
(2) learn from each other's strengths and weaknesses, tell good stories, and do good deeds in the context of human-machine collaboration.
on one hand, recognize artificial intelligence's advantages in content association and expression, timely transfer marginal power, promote human-machine cooperation, and construct "authoritative expert-machines".
on the other hand, the future is led by the unknown. "expert" type professionals should promote interdisciplinary, cross-regional, and cross-cultural exchanges, particularly in the fields of basic science and humanities and social sciences. while achieving deep technological development, they should also consider the breadth of societal impact, ground themselves in the meaning of humanity, and construct more benign and humane technologies.
in conclusion, as technology advances, the polarization of human society becomes more severe. those lacking in critical thinking will be left behind by the times, while another group of talents possessing high emotional intelligence, professional knowledge, and innovation capabilities will have the "human-machine capital" for the next era. we always believe that the significance of artificial intelligence to humanity lies not in replacing people's jobs but in liberating humans from repetitive tasks, thereby enabling them to truly ponder what defines humanity's uniqueness.