📘 Part 3: Jobs and careers

This episode's vocabulary

The field - a place where you are working or studying in real situations, rather than from an office, laboratory, etc.

Manual worker (noun) - a person whose job involves physical work.

Workforce (noun) - the group of people who work in a company, industry, country, etc..

High-paying (adj.) - used to describe work for which people earn a lot of money.

Luddite (noun) - a person who is opposed to the introduction of new working methods, especially new machines.

To retrain (verb) - to teach someone a new skill so that they can do a different job.

Redundant (adj.) - (especially of a word, phrase, etc.) unnecessary because it is more than is needed.

Up-and-coming (adj.) - likely to achieve success soon or in the near future.

Barrier (noun) - anything used or acting to block someone from going somewhere or from doing something, or to block something from happening.

To fire (verb) - to remove someone from their job, either because they have done something wrong or badly, or as a way of saving the cost of employing them.

Automation (noun) - the use of machines and computers that can operate without needing human control.

Questions and Answers

M: How do you think artificial intelligence will affect people's work?

R: Well, I think that will depend on the field you work in, really. If we talk about manual workers with a relatively low information load, then I doubt AI will do much since they don't need access to huge amounts of information, although maybe it could help them plan more efficiently. But that's a management thing, usually. In comparison, something with a higher information load, like computer programming, could have its human workforce wiped out if AI starts doing all the coding work completely unsupervised.

M: What would you say are the most important factors to be considered when choosing a career?

R: Well, it would be easy to say the salary as it is now, but I think the future prospects would be better to try and judge compared to, well, like I say, the salary at the moment. You could have a high-paying job like a lawyer, but that money won't last long. If you get replaced by an AI like we were talking about there. It's not possible to predict everything. But it might be one helpful aspect to consider.

M: Technology will make some people unemployed. How can this problem be solved?

R: Well, the obvious answer would be destroying the technology. But that didn't really work well for the Luddites. So perhaps a more practical and workable solution would be to retrain workers made redundant by AI to work in up-and-coming fields. I think that happened to miners in one area when their mine was shut down. They retrained as coders and helped operate the machinery which replaced them.

M: Is it common in your country for people to move to other cities because of work?

R: Well, I think it's pretty common to move to other cities, in general, really. Lots of people don't want to be stuck in the same place they grew up. So they move to get work or to go to university. For example, what the exact numbers are, I have no idea, but in a town like mine, with the University and other large employers and organizations, people are coming and going all the time. And this is something you can see in all the other major cities.

M: What kinds of jobs do young people in your country like to do?

R: Well, you'd have to ask them. My guess would be things that involve what they actually enjoy doing. For example, in the past, lots of people got jobs just to have a stable income for their family. But now, people are having fewer children. And they do what they like more. So lots of people work in personal training or become influencers. I think it's the job, or those are the jobs that a lot of people like.

M: Do you think it's easier to get a job now than in the past?

R: It depends on the field. I mean, it's probably easier to become a lawyer because people have access to more information than they did before. And so you could self-teach, and then take a legal exam. However, there are still some barriers to entry like personal connections. And that's always been the case.

M: Is it important to be successful in a job?

R: Well, if you want to keep it, or if you want to have money coming in, then yes. So if you work for an organization, and you don't do your job well, then you get fired. And if you work for yourself, and you don't do your job well, then you don't have as much money as you would if you were better at it. So, yes, it's important, I can't think of a reason or a situation in which being unsuccessful at a job would be a good idea.

M: Do you think artificial intelligence will take over many jobs?

R: Well, it's like I said at the start, it will probably take over the ones that involve a high information load, even just to make the process more efficient. But when it comes to doing physical or manual labour, I think, well, it won't do much to be honest, because AI just exists in a system. We can talk about automation for those kinds of jobs, but our focus here is AI.

M: Hey, Rory, thank you for your answers!

Discussion

M: So, dear listener, here questions could be about artificial intelligence, right? Because ChatGPT, all these different, you know, what do you call them?

R: AIs.

M: AIs. So if you have nothing to say about this, you should do certain research, maybe in your own language read about artificial intelligence and jobs. Okay? Yeah. To make sure you can answer the questions. Here, artificial intelligence or AI could affect people's work. Affect? Like have an influence, have an effect on people's work. And then Rory told us that it depends on the field you work in. So I work in banking, I work in education. So it depends on the field where people work in. And then specifically, if we talk about manual workers... Manual. People who work with their hands. Builders, for example. Manual workers, manual labour. So if we talk about manual workers, then no. Artificial intelligence will not replace them, or will not affect them. But if we talk about huge amounts of information, and people who deal with huge amounts of information, then maybe yes.

R: Yeah. I think it's important to have two alternatives to talk about here. Because these questions like will it affect people's work? Well, you could say a lot about one thing and not so much about another. So why not include that in your answer? Like, it depends on which job we are talking about. There are different kinds of jobs with different requirements.

M: For example, computer programming could have its human workforce wiped out. So human workforce? Computer programmers. People who work in computer programming. Okay? So workforce - employees. To be wiped out means to get fired.

R: Well, just to be replaced. They won't be there anymore.

M: So computer programmers could be wiped out, could be replaced. If artificial intelligence starts doing all the coding work unsupervised. Unsupervised is like Terminator?

R: You're obsessed. It's not going to be like Terminator.

M: Yeah, but why did you say artificial intelligence starts doing all the coding work unsupervised? Why unsupervised?

R: Well, if it does it unsupervised, then you will not need coding workers to supervise the work and check it, so the entire workforce will go.

M: Oh, okay. Okay. So just like artificial intelligence does all the coding work, and there is no human being to supervise the work of artificial intelligence. Okay. When you choose a career, so you choose a career, you choose a job, but you don't choose work. Okay? So choose a job, choose a career, but you work as a banker, work as a teacher, for example. And then Rory goes like, it will be easy to see the salary.

R: Everybody says the salary.

M: Yeah, money, right? You choose a career because of money.

R: But it would be good to talk about something a little bit original, not because the examiner will be bored, but just because it's the most obvious answer. So you say this is the most obvious answer. But there's another one too.

M: Like you could have a high-paying job. So some people choose a high-paying job, like a lawyer. Lawyers usually get a lot of money. But then lawyers could be replaced by an AI, or a computer programmer could be replaced by artificial intelligence, for example. Actually, the recent news was about translators. Translators who used to work for Duolingo. You know? This app to learn languages. So this company Duolingo started firing translators, because artificial intelligence now does all the translation, apparently, in these apps. Yeah. So kind of like language learning applications, and they use artificial intelligence and translators get fired. You see, dear listener? So this is like what is going on now in the world. A lot of translators got fired, or they were replaced by AI.

R: But it will never happen to us. We're here forever.

M: No, no, no. Forever, I mean yes, yes, yes. So I still don't understand. You said that the salary is not the answer, but what is the answer? So what are important factors to consider when you choose a career?

R: Well, you will still have a job in the future, probably because that's what the future prospects are. If you'll continue to have a job, if you will get promoted, if you can move into other positions, because that's more sustainable than just saying, oh, I'll be a lawyer and have a high salary. And okay, you could do that for a year. But then what if you get replaced? That's not so good.

M: So future career prospects are important. Yeah?

R: Yes.

M: So you don't want to end up in a dead-end job, with no prospects, with no opportunities to get promoted. So like, with opportunities to grow.

R: Or just being replaced.

M: Yeah, or like being replaced. Yeah. Some people could be made unemployed. So for example, artificial intelligence technology could make some people unemployed, like this example with translators, who got fired. Who were made redundant. Redundant, like, okay, we no longer need you. Goodbye! So people got redundant, or people got fired.

R: Or made redundant.

M: Or they were made redundant. Yeah. So how can we solve this problem? And Rory told us, well, the answer would be destroying the technology.

R: Just get rid of it. And all will be well.

M: Yeah. But then a more practical, more workable solution. So a workable solution, like a better solution would be to retrain workers. So retraining the workforce, retraining employees. So retrain people who were made redundant by artificial intelligence. So retrain them and make them better than artificial intelligence. Hey! And then Rory gave us an example with miners. Miners, you know, like people who work in mines. Coal mines. Oh, dear listener, do you know what I'm talking about?

R: If you don't, then it could be that there is no mining industry in your country.

M: Yeah, like this coal. Coal is this material, which were burn and then we get warm from this burning of coal. It's black coal. And coal is dug up in a mine. Yeah. There are a lot of mines in Great Britain. Right, Rory?

R: Well, there were. We still have some, but it's not as many.

M: Yeah, but you still use coal?

R: Yeah, but I mean, it's like this in many countries. There are but there are not as many as there used to be.

M: So like, miners lost their jobs. A lot of mining businesses shut down. So they were closed and they retrained miners. So, people who used to dig up coal from mines got retrained. And they were taught how to operate the machinery, which replaced them. So people were replaced by machines. And these people were retrained and taught how to operate the machinery, which replaced them. Dear listener, are you with us? Are you okay? How are you doing?

R: Well, it will be like, it's the same process with everything. You get taught how to do something. Not always because you lose your job.

M: Yeah. Like people are replaced by a computer. And then people are taught how to use this computer, they were replaced with. It's pretty common. It's very common, it's pretty common to move to other cities. So people move to other cities for work. So people don't want to be stuck in the same place they grew up. So you'll grow up in the village, you don't want to get stuck there forever. So to be there forever. So you move to some other place. And also, we use this phrase to get stuck in a dead-end job. So to get stuck in one job, like to be in one job forever. Dead-end job. So with no opportunities to grow, to get promoted.

R: Hopefully that doesn't happen to anyone we know.

M: And then you can say like, oh, I don't know the exact numbers, kind of is it common in your country for people to do that? Well, I don't know the exact numbers. I have no idea about how many people move.

R: Does anyone? What a strange question.

M: But like a usual question, like is it common for people in your country to do this? And a typical answer is like, I don't know the exact numbers. So actually, I have no idea. But usually, people move or they don't move, or people are coming and going all the time. Here we're using the present continuous, like now what's going on? A trend.

R: Is it the same in Russia?

M: Yeah. People are coming and going all the time. Yeah. I think it's all over the world. So coming and going, moving all around, coming back. Yeah? A typical question is to compare the present and the past. So you can say that it used to be much easier to get a job. Now it has become much more difficult. Okay, dear listener? Now, people tend to self-teach themselves. Okay? So we have YouTube, alright? So you self-teach yourself to be a lawyer, you go and become a lawyer. people self-teach themselves to be programmers or bloggers, and then they start working as bloggers or programmers or podcasters.

R: Like us. But there could be some barriers to certain positions. Positions? Like a job, a position. So a barrier. Barrier? Something that doesn't let you become president or doesn't let you become prime minister.

R: Well, having knowledge is one thing, but there's also the social aspect of it. And people usually employ their friends or people who are similar to them. So that can be a barrier.

M: Yeah. So here, you see, you can speak about the social aspect. Because, yeah, people usually employ friends. Yeah, this is a very good idea. And this could be a barrier to getting a certain position, especially high-level positions. Yeah, like, Prime Minister, or CEO, directors, deputy directors in companies. It's crucial to be successful in a job. So I'm successful in a job, dear listener. Okay? So I'm good at a job. It's essential, crucial, and important to be good at a job. And the opposite would be unsuccessful. It's not good to be unsuccessful in a job.

R: I think that's really funny, because I was thinking about this question while I was answering it, and I was like, are there any times when it's not important to be good at what you do and be successful?

M: No but, for example, you see, like, if a person works as a driver, right? And they don't want to be a super driver, they just want to drive and get their money. That's all. They don't want any promotion. They don't want to work hard. Okay? So they're not ambitious. And they don't like this job. So then what? For them, it's not important to be successful at what they're doing. Right? So they're just doing their job.

R: Yes. But is that not being successful? That's just like doing the job. But nothing more. But being successful is not always about doing the maximum or more than the maximum. It can just be about doing enough. And that's okay.

M: Right. So if I drive a car safely, and everyone's happy, but I just do exactly enough. I'm successful.

R: It's enough. I think it's okay.

M: Yeah. Okay. It's just doing enough. Yeah. What do you think, dear listener, right? But usually, we think about something more if I'm successful in a job, I do much more, I work hard, I get promoted, and I achieve certain results. Yeah? And I'm getting better and better. Yeah? Usually, this is the case. But you can say like, it's not... Kind of it depends on what you mean by successful in the job, yeah?

R: Yeah. But I was just thinking, Are there any circumstances in which case you would not be successful? And I was just... There are no jobs where that's the case. You would lose your job.

M: Yeah. True. Can you imagine if you're a chef or a cook, you make food and then it's not delicious? Like no one likes your food. And then like what? Go away from my restaurant, never come back. Your food is not tasty. Yeah, they are not successful. Okay. Artificial intelligence could take over many jobs. So take over is your phrasal verb. And actually, artificial intelligence has already taken over certain jobs. Like translators, dear listener, yeah? Like a current example. And artificial intelligence could make certain work more efficient. So it does it faster, and more efficiently, but not manual labour. Manual labour? Something that we do with our hands. So ChatGPT can not build a house for you.

R: Yes.

M: ChatGPT cannot write a band nine IELTS essay for you. No, no, it cannot, dear listener. We've tried, maybe a seven, but not a nine, maybe not an eight even.

R: But that's important to point out because most people when they think about artificial intelligence think, oh, I need to... We're talking about robots taking over. But it's not. It's just software. And so or something digital, not something physical. And so, with that in mind, you need to think carefully, because we're not talking about robots physically coming in and doing the job. We're talking about a digital system doing the job instead.

M: Automation. Rory, automation. When things become automated. Automated cars, for example, without any people inside them. Automated cars. So how can I use automation in a sentence?

R: Well, if you give me a question, we could probably use it for this.

M: Will robots take over the world?

R: Well, there you go. Maybe not take over the world, but they might take over certain jobs because automation is increasingly becoming a thing that happens in workplaces and so more people will lose their jobs to machines.

M: Yeah. You see? People could lose their jobs to machines. But hopefully, it's not you, dear listener. Well, if it is you, we are very sorry, retrain, learn new stuff, take IELTS, move, change. Well, easier said than done, dear listener, yeah? Yeah. Yeah. But if Rory could install Instagram, and started using Instagram and Facebook, you could do anything in the world. Thank you for listening! Stay with us. And we'll get back to you in our next episode. Okay?

R: But for now, we've got to get back to work. Bye!

M: Bye!

Make sure to subscribe to our social media to see some of the “behind the scenes” stuff:

Our Instagram: bit.ly/instagramswi

Our Telegram: bit.ly/telegramswi