Who will get hired in the AI age?

Applying artificial intelligence and other advanced digital technologies in the real economy isn’t a job for tech nerds. Instead, Europe needs more people who can combine a deep knowledge of industry sectors with some expertise in data analytics.

That was the verdict of guests at a Science|Business roundtable on digital skills, hosted by Sorbonne University’s Center for Artificial Intelligence (SCAI) in Paris on 23 January 2020. The event was part of a series of events and publications by Science|Business as part of its Digital Skills project.

Conversations about AI’s impact on the labour market often assume it will create jobs for a small elite of tech nerds, while destroying many more conventional roles. But the roundtable participants argued there will continue to be strong demand for professionals with in-depth knowledge of particular industries, supplemented by enough tech-knowhow to be able to apply the digital tools the boffins have built.