Excerpted from https://hbr.org/2017/02/the-rise-of-ai-makes-emotional-intelligence-more-important

Don't be alarmed but AI and machine learning bots are breathing down your neck... 

To be better than a robot we’re all going to have to learn how to manage, influence, and relate... skills that artificial intelligence has trouble replicating. Skills like persuasion, social understanding, and empathy are going to become differentiators as AI and machine learning take over our other tasks.  

A smart machine might be able to diagnose an illness and even recommend treatment better than a doctor.  It takes a person, however, to sit with a patient, understand their life situation (finances, family, quality of life, etc.), and help determine what treatment plan is optimal. It’s these human capabilities that will become more and more prized over the next decade.   

Up to now, these skills have generally been viewed as second priority, shuffled off as “the soft skills”, cut from budgets along with employee fun days when the budget gets tight.  For better or worse, these are the skills that will be essential to anyone who wants to stay relevant in their field as automated systems proliferate.  

The Harvard Business Review has these recommendations:

• Don’t fight the progress of technology. Machine learning and AI have the ability to improve outcomes and lower cost — so don’t fight the robots. Welcome the change in your industry and work to make it fruitful and complementary.
• Examine your own capabilities interacting with, motivating, and assessing people. Learn to recognize and enhance your strengths and address your weaknesses as they pertain to your emotional intelligence.
• Invest in developing your emotional intelligence. Change your thought process around what is important in your role, focusing on how you can better manage, influence, and relate to others.  Seek out training and stretch opportunities.

What you have to offer — what you can do better than any smart machine — is relate to the people around you.  Nurture and invest in these abilities the same way that you have the more technical parts of your career.  If you can be an outstanding motivator, manager, or listener, then you will still have a part to play as technology changes your industry.

To engage with facilitators who can increase your emotional intelligence, reach out to us at Possibilities Consulting info@possible.co .