Many workers fear machines will supplant them as adoption of artificial intelligence accelerates.
But what if people have qualities both unmistakably human and essential to career success that AI could not easily replace them?
Some workplace experts argue that with more businesses adopting AI tools, soft skills such as empathy, critical thinking and ethical decision-making are worth cultivating to help employees become indispensible.
Across industries and occupations, "the skills that are most resistant to displacement by AI are the ones that are the most distinctly human,” Maria Flynn, president and CEO of Jobs for the Future, a nonprofit focused on workforce development, said. "Some of those things are relationship building, conflict resolution, the ability to guide and motivate other people and ethical judgment.”
Even in job listings for technical roles such as IT support, organizations say they're looking for candidates who communicate well and take leadership initiative, Flynn said.
