Matt Britton, an AI expert, discusses how artificial intelligence is automating jobs and what workers can do about it. He offers practical advice for individuals and families to adapt to AI technology and future-proof their careers.
It does all the scheduling in Eagleton. I'm here to install it, but scheduling.
Is the main part of my job.
You still have a human being in charge of booking tennis courts. What is this, 1990?
Well, it's 2025, and as you just saw there, the balance between jobs done by people versus machines is rapidly becoming more complicated. That's especially true with the rise of artificial intelligence. So it's important to pay attention to how AI tools are already reshaping the future of work and how you might be impacted. Joining us now is Matt Britton. He is an AI expert and the author of Generation AI why Generation Alpha and the Age of AI Will Change Everything. So for starters, Matt, this is such a hot topic right now. Where are we already seeing AI automating jobs that perhaps were previously done by real people?
Yeah, I mean, deterministic roles where you come in the work every day and wait to be told what to do. Those are the ones that are becoming increasingly at risk because as the AI models improve, AI is learning how to do those things. So if you think about what is future proof, so to speak, it's those roles that really requ you to be creative, you to take initiative, you to be a problem solver, understand how to point the power of AI in the right direction versus do things that AI is already well along the way of automating for you.
To that end, how can folks differentiate themselves from AI, make themselves valuable in the workplace?
Yeah, so I think it's very hard in the workplace to use AI the way that you need to to really learn how it works. Because despite the fact that a lot of companies are pushing AI, the reality is that when left to their own devices, employees can't download any tool they want to upload any data. There's legal privacy concerns, etc. So instead, what I tell consumers to do is actually implement AI in their personal lives. Figure out what problem you want to solve in your personal life, whether it's becoming more healthy, losing weight, having more creative activities with your kids, and then go and chatgpt and say, I want to build my own tool that does this. And go step by step saying, don't give me step number two until step number one is done. And you can really start to then change your way of thinking and understand what's possible.
I love that. I mean, I've been trying to get familiar with it. I told you during the break, trying to meal prep with AI telling it, okay, this is what I have in my fridge. What do you Recommend for a 5 day meal plan. NBC News had a recent poll looking at how people are using artificial intelligence. What it found was that just over half said that they rarely or never use AI tools. But you're arguing that everyone needs to start getting familiar with this tech. What are some concrete ways to do that?
So if you have children and you want to figure out a way to better engage with your kids, which everyone's trying to do in this day and age, get the kids off screens, right. You can do things like take photos and turn in the coloring book pages. You could use a tool called Suno s u n o to actually create a song together about maybe an experience or a vacation you've had. So in doing so, you're exposing your kids to early ages, what AI can do for you. But you're also bringing a creative activity into the household and you yourself are starting to about what these tools are capable of.
I love that. Any other tips for parents who are looking to integrate it into their families or with their kids?
Well, I think the notion that you're going to keep AI out of the house, I think is quite far fetched. And I think in the world where AI is going to become of increasing importance and is going to seep into every corner of business, culture and society, you're not really doing your kids a good service by trying to keep them away from it. But at the same time it is a balancing act because we've never had a technology which mimics human behavior the same way that I does. So there's also a lot of risk with that as well.
And can we be real about that? Right. When you talk about seeping into every corner of our world, when we've seen movies that show the negative sides, sure. Tech, how do we engage with it? What's a good first step if maybe someone out there is hesitant?
Well, you can be afraid of it. And I think with every other technological innovation we've seen throughout history, there's been fear mongering and in some cases for good reason. But the reality is all those technologies also added benefit to society. And whether you think AI is good or bad for society, it almost doesn't matter because it's here to stay. And if you want to future proof yourself and your career, you really need to understand how it works. Get your hands on the keyboard to have a better understanding of it.
Love that. Instead of being scared of it, consider using it as a real tool.
