Will AI replace my job? [Let's reframe this question]
E192: From Five 2025 FAQs about the Future of Work
It does not matter where in the world you lay your head to rest, a question keeping many of us awake is:
The pace of updates to AI is relentless, expanding in complexity by the minute.
Keeping up is a constantly moving target.
“My technical skills may be outdated by the time I take a course or leave higher education.” How do I develop a skill set that gives me greater job sustainability?
Five recent conversations surfaced this familiar anxiety:
- ‘s podcast for young professionals in Kampala
John Vian Tuhirwe’s question on LinkedIn
Discussing online college degrees for Canadian athletes through Concordia University, Chicago with Michelle Cassini
Q&A with students and parents at the Etobicoke School of the Arts
Conversing on portfolio careers with
, as he launches Act Two Academy with (IYKYK)
This question combines these concerns:
Will AI take my job?
How can I plan ahead when the future is uncertain?
How do I develop skills that persist across technology transitions?
HOW DO I LEVERAGE AI AS A PRODUCTIVITY TOOL, given that the pace of updates to AI is relentless and it is expanding in complexity by the minute?
First, let’s review our original questions:
Will AI replace my job?
AI will employ scope creep and gradually expand across all levels, affecting every current position right across organizations, stretching into all parts of society. It may not take away your existing or intended job, but it will certainly change it. Your opportunity is to anticipate that shift à la “skate to where the puck is going.” (Yes, the Maple Leafs are in playoff season and I’m sure many of you are screaming this at your screens.)
My mother’s first job was as a “stenographer.” She recorded dictation in Pitman’s shorthand, transcribed it, and typed it in triplicate n a manual typewriter. Computing — the accessibility of computing power at our finger tips — changed that. Word processing and PCs replaced secretarial pools. The switch from manual to electric typewriter was a productivity update. The move from typewriting to word processing was a tectonic technology shift. My mother upskilled, ending her career as an Executive Assistant. Working for a pediatric mental health specialist, she managed patient appointments, follow-ups and referrals, created computer-based case notes, able to churn through the huge caseload of edits quickly thanks to the invention of the "backspace" button.
I graduated with a Math/CompSci degree, a cutting-edge career at the time. This was before the era of personal computers so I had an interesting twist: though I had coded my final project — neat piles of dot matrix paper lay all around me — my mother hand-typed1 my final dissertation. Each edit required her to re-type the entire sheet. In the end, I had my thesis spiral-bound with a laminated cover. A copy sat proudly on our parents’ bookshelf for decades, joined by the PhD and MSc theses, books and textbooks published by their children!
Managing Directors and new hires alike now manage their own office needs - emails, scheduling, meeting minutes, expense reports, and travel arrangements. Authors self-edit books before self-publishing on Amazon. Students from elementary school to university submit presentations, poetry, and essays in readable form. Very few people still employ dedicated secretaries.
This isn’t the first time a new technology has adjusted human behaviour.
In the next decade, we’ll see AI shift the model of our algorithms until it manipulates our behaviour. This may sound scary.
The same was true of the automobile/motor car. It was an invention that radically changed the way we designed transportation throughways and built cities, shrinking the radius we walked in neighbourhoods, how we shopped, worshipped and interacted as communities. Whenever I watch a Jane Austen movie, I wonder, “Does anyone still wander over hills and dales?”
How can I plan ahead when the future is uncertain?
One way is to put on our “GenExplorer” hat. [ESA students will recall this reference as I described how this young generation is blessed with the opportunity to shape society for the next 100 years.]
Lift your chin frequently and scan the technical horizon. Watch for signals and clues that the terrain is shifting. Don’t get complacent. Invest in good basics and travel light with good company.
The future has never been certain
Our survival depends on working WITH new technologies to support our productivity. We’re exiting the early adopter stage of AI which is gaining broader traction across organizations and for personal use.
Soon, tools will allow “mere mortals” to plumb the rich depths of AI’s insights. AI tools are being developed to support creators in all streams from trivial to creative.
Returning to that typewriting example, while stay-at-home moms were paid £1-2 per hour as temp secretaries typing on electric typewriters, I earned my way through college by doing word processing, paid 3x as much because I could “code” <b> to bold a word </b>, <u>to underline</u> etc, (AND use that precious DELETE button to cover correct my mistakes.) Then Microsoft made word processing accessible by introducing WYSIWYG (allowing you to click B to bold on formatting toolbars, hiding the complex coding and leveled the playing field. Now a third-grader was as equally equipped as a CompSci major to create a legible document.
From ATMs to IVF, smart phones to Google maps, each new technology quickly becomes a utility — part of the fabric of our everyday life. For many of these technologies, the question is not if you will connect with it, but when.
How do I develop a skill set that persists across technology transitions?
We will go into this in further detail in future editions. The previous sections focused on the importance of embracing technical change, absorbing IQ. Here’s a TL;DR version of how to develop a persistent set of skills:
Forge unusual partnerships. Invest in relationships.
Upskill, reskill, skill stack. Identify and understand transferable skills.
Give your growth mindset a real workout: unlearn and relearn. (see the section AI in action)
Don’t wait for an invitation to lead differently.
But most importantly, leverage your Heirloom skills.
I’ve rebranded EQ skills as heirloom skills. Heirloom skills are more persistent than IQ skills, which have a rapidly decaying shelf life. EQ skills are persistent skills — resilience, critical thinking, community building, communications etc. These are lovingly handed down from generation to generation, burnished through storytelling and frequent use. If you are an immigrant, ask your parents or grandparents for the explorer skills they had to deploy - discovery, experimentation, creating new rules and maps as they navigated their new world.
In this new world of AI, we are all mapping a new world, one we can co-create.
Technologies come and go. But techniques persist.
My Grandmother’s Clay Oven
“Can you believe our grandmothers baked delicious cakes without these fancy ovens?”
“Feast days in the village were the best,” I told my son as my husband leaned in to listen.
The house was buzzing with activity. But I loved to hover by the stairs on the back compound. There, a big clay pot (about 1.5 feet/45cm in diameter) half-filled with sand balanced on three large laterite stones. A fire raged beneath, heating the sand, fueled by wood, coconut husks, and dried banyan leaves.
Meanwhile, in Grandma’s kitchen, my mother - wooden spatula in hand - would whip up a delicious batter of “sugar, butter, flour …” using family recipes on pages where the writing was fading and the edges kissed with tiny granules of sugar embedded in grease stains. She’d taste, adjust by adding “a bit more vanilla” and pour the delicious batter into a floured steel saucepan. Whoever was lucky to be in the kitchen got to lick the bowl clean!
She’d step to the clay pot and gauge the temperature of the hot sand with her palm. Then she’d gingerly nestle the saucepan into the warm sand, place a cover on it, and layer red-hot coconut shells on top.
I’d sit on the back step, waiting patiently for that cake to bake. Mum would step out intermittently to test the cake for done-ness. She’d sniff the air (we all recognize that classic smell of ‘hot and ready’ brownies or cookies that draws us to the kitchen), then using a toothpick or a skewer, she’d daintily pierce the middle to confirm the centre was as cooked as the edges. No temperature gauges. No timers. No ‘ding’ers. Just years of generational and personal experience.
I’m still amazed that generations of cooks worldwide baked delicious Christmas, birthday, and wedding cakes using these methods. It was a big day when Mom upgraded to an oven with temperature dial.
We’ve come a long way. Technology has improved. My hand-held electric beater has been replaced with a stand mixer. Now I bake from those same recipes but in convection or toaster ovens, and sometimes my microwave.
New technologies do not replace our skills; they transform how we apply them.
We’ve upgraded our heat technology from clay ovens to microwaves, but the chemistry of blending ingredients, the aroma and taste of those recipes remain the same. Skill stacking. We’ve improved the ease and speed of creating these delicacies.
Technologies come and go. The “how” of doing things changes - we save time, have more control over the inputs and process. But the “why” remains the same: our attention to taste and detail, patience, pride in craftsmanship, passing lessons and stories from generation to generation, memories of sharing food, and the sensory hit of fresh baked goodies.
These are the heirloom skills: communication, companionship, community, always learning, testing and evolving.
I could not find a photo. But click here and read about the sand oven experiment in a Nigerian school. And here is a TikTok:
Tiktok failed to load.Enable 3rd party cookies or use another browser
AI in action:
Unlearn, relearn, skill stack. The best way to learn a new skill or technology is to apply it.
I’m enrolled in
‘s2 3-day accelerator Content Velocity. She recommends Lex.page as an interactive AI that protected your IP while enhancing your writing. Terri tested AI to design the content for this sprint.I decided this newsletter would be my second use case. (The first was creating my Bingo Card last year).
I’m a fan of Perplexity (thank you for that recommendation
!) Yesterday, I signed up for the free 7-day Protrial, downloaded Lex to my phone, added the ready-to-publish newsletter draft, launched the Lex chat function (renamed Guinan), and went for a walk. 🚶🏻♀️🚶🏻♀️“How does my copy stand out from the regular career advice on managing and incorporating AI?”
You are cultural bridge builder, showing how workplace concerns transcend geographical boundaries while acknowledging local contexts. ‘This global-local connection is rare in future-of-work discussions.’
Your piece addresses intergenerational dialogue, creating conversations across generations. Your ‘Heirloom skills’ metaphor is a powerful differentiator.
You don’t treat STEM and the humanities as opposing forces. You discuss both technical and creative aspects of the Future of Work with STEAM.
(There was more, but we’ll save that for another day)
Your newsletter reads less like a typical career advice column and more like a thoughtful conversation with a wise mentor who’s still actively learning. (My favourite AI review to date!)
“Suggest improvements to this copy.”
Expand on the Heirloom skills with a story to showcase and strengthen your perspective.
That’s how I went back to the drawing board, re-scaffolded this week’s edition, stripped out paragraphs, and added the Clay Oven story.
Productivity score? -6 hours. Still learning. I liked the AI suggestions, but spent much of today reworking the flow, pushing some ideas to later editions.
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My questions to you:
Did you have family or travel stories to share about baking with sand or salt?
Do you like the idea of Heirloom skills?
Did the clay oven story add to this edition? Or was that AI suggestion an editorial fail?
I’m borrowing
’s transparency filter to describe how I’m incorporating AI in my workflow. Thanks, Bill!Ireland - Portugal - Spain - UK
For our European Tribe Tilters, DM me. I’ll be in Ireland-Portugal-Spain-UK during May, June & July. It will be a joy to meet you in person and add to my collection of IRL photos!
Hello Tribe Tilt!
Tilt the Future - answering when serendipity knocks is read across 50 countries including Ghana, Norway and Hong Kong.
Wow!
In Tribe Tilt, we believe we can make a difference to the people and places that are precious to us, bringing fun, hope and agency into our lives. We believe the best ideas can come from anyone, anywhere, at any time. Thank you for joining our tribe filled with inspiring and inspired individuals. You have self-selected into this powerful, wonderful group. Please add your voice and join our conversations.
Stay healthy. From there, all else becomes possible.
Until next week …
Karena
Hand-typing university students’ dissertations in the days before personal computers was a very painful but lucrative side hustle for many stay-at-home mothers and Master’s students.
Terri wrote the bible for Solopreneurs. Here is the interview I did with her. She is always learning, always experimenting, always teaching.
https://tiltthefuture.substack.com/i/68521092/meet-a-member-terri-lonier-authority-by-design
ooooh how are you liking Lex?
Love the image of the dot matrix paper and the irony that your mom had to hand type your dissertation
Unlearning and relearning is a big one I'm trying to learn - one barrier can be identity.
'Do I see myself as a non-technical person? Why should I play with Cursor/terminal then?'