Adapting to Change: Thriving in the Digital Age through the Right Skills and Lifelong Learning

In my presentation 'Adapting to Change: Thriving in the Digital Age through the Right Skills and Lifelong Learning' at ExxonMobil, a corporate partner of Corvinus University, I discussed the importance of lifelong learning and development due to certain contemporary changes and challenges. The exponential pace of technological advancement means our knowledge can quickly become outdated, and General Purpose Technologies (GPT) such as AI, robotics, and biotechnology are radically transforming our world. I emphasized that in the future, human labor will increasingly take a backseat, with repetitive, boring, easily automatable tasks being performed by machines, while exciting, strategic decision-making or tasks requiring human interaction and emotional involvement will still be done by us. This is the world we need to prepare for through learning and adaptation, and which we can shape with our intentions. The goal of my presentation was to highlight that we can influence the direction of change and we can transform our world only if we are willing and capable to learn and adapt."

1. Adapting to Change : Thriving in the Digital Age through the Right Skills and Lifelong Learning Robert Pinter , Corvinus University ExxonMobil 25.06.2024.

2. Introduction Robert Pinter sociologist (1999) and political scientist (2000) I have been doing research on information society , digital culture and e-business since 1998 current jobs : Corvinus University , Department of Information and Communication , assistant professor Digimeter ( research serial on SME digitalisation ) Previous jobs ( mainly market research companies ): Reacty Digital, eNET Internet Research, Ipsos, BME-ITTK 2

3. Planned content Changes that cause that our knowledge is becoming obsolete (15 min) Learning and adaption are the right responses to these changes (10 minutes ) What hinders learning and adaptation ? (15 min) Conclusion : summary and key messages (5 min) Q&A (10 min) 3

4. Changes that cause that our knowledge is becoming obsolete

5. The Law of accelerating returns ”An analysis of the history of technology shows that technological change is exponential , contrary to the common-sense ” intuitive linear ” view ” ” So we won’t experience 100 years of progress in the 21st century – it will be more like 20,000 years of progress ( at today’s rate )” ( Kurzweil in 2000) 5

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7. GPT ( not that one ) General Purpose Technology (GPT): technologies for all aspects of life ( this GPT is not from ChatGPT - that is Generative Pre-Trained Transformer ) 20+ GPTs from fire to the wheel ... Coming at an accelerating pace Dominating today : AI, robotics and biotechnology Radically changing our world in collaboration with us 7

8. Human and the Loop There are four ways to use AI in a ( not only ) business process : not using : Human- only - Loop (HOL) – e.g . schoolbus drivers in collaboration with machines : Human-in- the - Loop (HITL) – e.g . truck drivers with lane keeping technology , adaptive cruise control etc. supervise it : Human- on - the-Loop (HOTL) – e.g . semi-autonomous cars with possible human intervention let it operate autonomously : Human-out-of- the - Loop (HOOTL) – e.g . Waymo : self-driving taxi But the goal is not to automate every process ! 8

9. The future : collaboration between humans and artificial intelligence In the future , it is expected that autonomous human work will increasingly take a back seat : repetitive , tedious , easily automated tasks will be automated (HOOTL) tasks that are exciting , strategic , require human decisions or human interaction and emotional involvement will largely be kept to ourselves (HOL and HITL) but the broad range of activities in between will be done in collaboration with AI , what we call : hybrid intelligence , augmented work , centaur model , co- creation or cobot (HITL and HOTL) This is the world we must prepare for with learning and adaption / forming with our intentions . 9

10. Climate change Climate change requires business- as - not -usual practices You may have the biggest impact on human adaptation to climate change , but only with new methods & approaches that based on new knowledge If you are not part of the solution , then you are the problem 10

11. Learning and adaption are the right responses to these changes

12. Cal Newport: working with smart tools Cal Newport : those who " survive " are those who excel at using smart tools , who are the best in their profession , and who have the capital few have capital , only a few can be the best , but working with smart tools can be learned by anyone 12

13. WEF: skills of 2025 Digital learning skills from the top 10 : active learning and learning strategies technology use , monitoring and control technology design and programming Soft skills become essential 13

14. Superpowers of 21 st century: the 4C 14

15. Missionaries over Mercenaries? Although Bezos meant startup founders first and foremost , let's broaden the approach to all employees : why do you work , just for the money or do you have an inherent goal ? We know that not everyone can be a missionary all the time , but to do what you're good at , you need to develop yourself , whether you are or missionary or mercenary 15

16. What hinders learning and adaptation ?

17. Newport: lack of deep work According to Cal Newport, most office workers ’ day is dominated by emails ( other people's to-do lists for you ), meetings and social media hence they can't do deep work ( focused work ) and so there is no time for self-improvement or focused attention 17

18. AI and work: race against the machine We don't see AI as a partner, we see AI as a competitor ( or substitutor ) , but we see it wrong : optimism bias – we believe that do complex things that AI can't do well and we think that I'm good at my job , AI won't be a challenge , I'll be able to adapt ( cognitive dissonance reduction ) vs whereas people in other fields ( which we don't know well ), will be substituted The reality is that the machine can be a partner , not a competitor , but you can only interact with machines if you learn how to do it 18

19. Lack of intrinsic motivation The lack of intrinsic motivation to learn is associated with a false sense of security in the context of the optimism bias If we do not perceive a change that would push us , we lack the impetus to start 19

20. The confusion of abundance The confusion of abundance – what should you learn ? You can develop any of the skills listed by the WEF / superpowers / digital skills On the other hand , actually you may learn anything ! What is important that you need to pick up the thread and gain knowledge , build a habit for lifelong learning 20

21. Time management Hungarians spends 4+ hours a day on TV/streaming : " According to the NMHH, the world's population watches 2 hours and 25 minutes of television per day . Europeans watch almost an hour more, 3 hours 22 minutes on average , while since the turn of the millennium, Hungarians have consistently spent at least four hours in front of the television screen on an average day ." ( Hungary Today, 17.04.2024. ) It's your choice how you spend your free time , your workplace can't interfere , but self-education according to your own interests , reading ( books ) that require focused attention will help you adapt easier to the already mentioned changes . 21

22. Cultural context This will be the Hungarian context – but consider how do you think about it and how does the culture you come from judge knowledge ? The share of adult learners in Hungary is low compared to other EU countries ( see statistics ) Poor perception of the Hungarian education system suggests that learning is not so important Good relationships / personal networks seem to be more important than knowledge in our society Finally , what do we think about whether we are the makers of our own destiny , and how much do our skills matter ? While Hungary is an individualistic country, where individuals are free to make their own choices , we do not think that we are in control of our own destiny = this is learned social inertia . 22

23. Conclusion : summary , key messages and Q&A

24. Summary : Changes are gradually making our knowledge obsolete the law of accelerating returns : 20 thousand years of changes in the 21st century ( Kurzweil ) general purpose technology (GPT) is everywhere Human-and- the - Loop : we don’t want to race with machines we want to collaborate with them climate change makes business- as - usual approaches obsolate in the coming decades 24

25. Summary : What are the right answers learn how to work with intelligent machines ( Cal Newport) learn future-proof skills : technology use , design and programming (WEF) develop 4C super-skills : collaboration , critical thinking , creativity and communication - soft skills become essential develop yourselves to become the best mercenaries or missionaries indispensable 25

26. Summary : What stimulates learning and adaptation ? work culture : deep work vs . work schedules dominated by emails, meetings and social media seeing AI as a partner , not a competitor move beyond false sense of security and have intrinsic motivation to learn learn anything that interests you and avoid the distraction of abundance think about how you spend your free time , whether you want to improve yourself outside of work be aware of how your image of knowledge is culturally determined and what you really think about the role of knowledge and skills in your life 26

27. Q&A Any questions ? 27

28. Thank you for your attention! Robert Pinter Corvinus University Department of Information and Communication [email protected] https://www.linkedin.com/in/probesz/ https://probesz.medium.com/ (in Hungarian) X: @ probesz [phone]