Curious how AI actually works in the real world - and how to talk about it with students?
DECA and IBM team members recently sat down for a free webinar where they discussed practical ways to connect classroom learning to real careers and help students use AI thoughtfully, responsibly and creatively.
Here are five takeaways from DECA's conversation with IBM's AI experts:
1. Using AI the Right Way
Overall, the IBM guest speakers agreed that AI has significantly impacted their productivity, helping them accomplish more tedious tasks so they can focus on critical thinking or implementation of the task. However, a common theme was that AI does not replace your judgment in your day-to-day work, and an important factor is using AI the right way.
“What we have to understand from an AI perspective is that we are using it correctly,” said Sunil Mishra, a Senior Software Engineer and IBM watsonx Code Assistant. “We are putting in the right prompts. We are using the right tool. We are using the right LLM [Large Language Model]. Use [AI] appropriately, and it is going to be your quarterback.”
2. AI Is Becoming a Mandatory Tool for the Future Workforce
While many students fear that AI will negatively impact the job market by replacing entry-level jobs, the IBM team disagreed. They believe that the jobs will still be there, but so will an expectation that the next generation of employees are AI-literate.
“AI is mandatory. AI is not going to take jobs away, but if you are not investing in learning AI, you will not have a job.” shared Anshul Chetal, EY IBM Consulting Global Alliance Leader.
Sunil Mishra added that, years ago, the “new” skills employees were expected to know were related to utilizing Word or PowerPoint. Now, everyone knows these platforms - but employers will also assume that students entering the workforce also know how to use AI.
3. Be Ready to Adapt
The tricky part about this new AI-landscape is that it is ever-changing and evolving just as quickly as we are learning about it.
“The tool that you learned yesterday is not that hot anymore,” explained Atul Thapliyal, Senior GenAI Program Leader at IBM.
His advice to students trying to stay on top of all the AI trends is not to focus on just knowing the tools, but knowing the entire architecture end-to-end. Atul’s advice to teachers helping to prepare students for this is simple:
“If you want to teach them scalable skills, teach them about great architecture…governance…and security, and how to build lasting interfaces using design thinking because they will always outlast whatever tool you end up using next.”
4. How to Get Ahead of the Competition
How can students start developing their critical and architectural thinking now to help them stand out amongst the competition for future careers?
Atul’s advice was to try to find a way to automate five tasks that you do repeatedly with AI.
“If you can discover five to 10 ways of automating anything which you have to do repeatedly, you are already ahead of 90% of people,” he shared. “Have that on your CV, and you’ll be set.”
5. AI is for Every Industry
Although AI seems very central to the IT world, it can have a place and impact on almost any industry and job function. Things like AB testing for marketing campaigns, developing a storyboard, or refining a script can be done using AI to improve efficiency and results.
“AI is not just for the technology people. It’s for everyone.” Anshul reassured the group.
You can view the whole webinar here, or read more on the IBM SkillsBuild platform on decadirect.org.
