There are hundreds of articles written about the knowledge economy. According to Wikipedia, “The knowledge economy is the use of knowledge…to generate tangible and intangible values. Technology and, in particular, knowledge technology help to incorporate part of human knowledge into machines. This knowledge can be used by decision support systems in various fields to generate economic value. Knowledge economy is also possible without technology.“ Technology – automation and artificial intelligence – are taking knowledge-based jobs. It’s happened with bookkeeping, tax preparation, administrative tasks formerly done by virtual assistants, and more. Automated bank feeds and transaction rules have mostly replaced the data entry that used to be a big part of bookkeeping. There are financial dashboards that can interpret your numbers via colorful graphs and charts. Bots can chat with website visitors and answer questions formerly answered by customer service agents.
What can’t be automated can be filled by millions of free blogs, podcasts, webinars, Facebook groups, LinkedIn groups, and more. Just as there is fake news, there are hundreds, if not thousands, of fake businesses selling the “ultimate formula” for success working a mere five minutes a day. And yet we crave human interaction. We like, share, and comment on everything hoping to be noticed. Posting selfies on social media is an art form in itself. All this because we need assurance our experience, knowledge, and expertise matters. That we matter. Except that automation and artificial intelligence has made some, if not much, of our expertise irrelevant.
At what point do we get tired of shouting at automated phone systems, bots, etc. that we just want to talk to someone? Is there a point where we recognize the expertise of another human being who will listen with empathy and use their expertise to get our business unstuck, profitable, and successful? Are we willing to see enough value in experts to pay for their service instead of relying on the answers a Google search can provide? If we are not, then this article written by The Guardian over a year ago is correct. University educations are becoming irrelevant. I confess the bachelor of science degree I earned in accounting already feels irrelevant.