In the era of artificial intelligence (AI), having a top university degree may no longer be the biggest advantage in job hunting. Ryan Roslansky, former CEO of LinkedIn, pointed out that as AI takes on more repetitive tasks, the importance of AI skills in job seeking will surpass prestigious degrees. Curiosity, courage, creativity, communication, and empathy will become essential skills in the workplace.
Roslansky emphasized in an interview on the podcast program “Tools and Weapons” that after the emergence of AI, companies increasingly value employees’ “soft skills.” Job seekers with good personal qualities, especially those possessing curiosity, courage, creativity, communication skills, and empathy, are likely to be more favored.
He explained that these skills are crucial for doing the job well. These abilities, commonly categorized as “soft skills,” are essential in the workplace. By improving and continuously honing these skills, overall job performance can be enhanced.
Having “curiosity,” employees are not content with the status quo and are willing to ask, “What if we try a different approach?” and validate new possibilities from the details of the work. When new ideas emerge, “courage” is needed to take action. Despite AI’s ability to calculate risks, only humans can decide which risks are worth taking. Thus, courage involves breaking existing practices, daring to innovate, and creating better possibilities for customers, teams, and work in situations where information is incomplete and outcomes are uncertain.
Furthermore, possessing “creativity,” employees can think outside the box, rethink problems from various perspectives, not only finding solutions but also identifying undiscovered needs and possibilities, creating high-value innovative methods.
In the workplace, “communication” determines whether an idea will be ignored and buried or understood, accepted, and influential. Although AI can assist in organizing structures and optimizing content, true meaning comes from human interactions, thoughts, perspectives colliding, and understanding human nature and emotions, especially in writing books, for example.
Regarding empathy and care, Roslansky believes that while AI can simulate care, only humans can genuinely feel and transmit care to others. Care allows individuals in the workplace to build connections, transforming transactions into relationships and turning a team from a group of co-workers into supportive partners.
He stated that AI is changing people’s perceptions of work, urging employees not to confine themselves to fixed positions but to break down work into different tasks, consider what can be delegated to AI, and what requires individual completion. He categorized future work into three types: (1) tasks entirely handled by AI, (2) tasks AI assists in completing, and (3) tasks highly dependent on human capabilities, such as conflict resolution, team consensus-building, and strategy formulation.
Roslansky emphasized that AI can save more time for people, allowing colleagues to have more opportunities for communication among themselves, highlighting the importance of employees’ communication skills, judgment, and emotional intelligence.
Although AI has entered the workplace extensively, Roslansky does not believe that AI will directly “replace humans.” Instead, those who are unwilling to use AI might be replaced. Merely using chatbots is also insufficient to remain competitive in the AI era.
He pointed out that interpersonal interaction skills of employees and job seekers remain crucial. “I believe that in this transformation, human qualities are the secret weapon for most people. Empathy, communication skills, adaptability, and genuine ability to communicate with others are all important. Do not overlook human-specific capabilities; they are key to succeeding in anything in the future.”
A group of university students sitting on the grass, discussing and studying with laptops and books. (shutterstock)
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Roslansky holds an optimistic view of the future of the AI industry. However, he acknowledged that he does not have a “crystal ball” and cannot predict the future, admitting the possibility of misjudging AI.
He said, “Sometimes when you are deeply entrenched in technology, especially AI, and try to extrapolate how far this technology may develop in the future, it may lead to some unsettling scenarios. I believe that humans play a crucial role in deciding the direction in which this technology should evolve.”
However, some experts and the public in Silicon Valley hold a more pessimistic view about the impact of AI on employment.
For instance, Vinod Khosla, an investor in OpenAI, predicted this year that children who are currently five years old may not need jobs when they grow up. Boris Cherny, creator of the Claude Code under Anthropic, believes that the job title “software engineer” may gradually fade out this year.
This article references reports from “Business Insider” and CNBC.