Is this the end of the ‘knowledge worker’ era?

The ‘knowledge worker’ clearly defined by Peter Drucker might be dying. As AI is becoming a stronger assistant who is able to gather a lot of knowledge, one can easily predict that eventually the quality of information will get better, more accurate, more reliable, and more easily accessible, making workers a lot more equal towards it. What does this mean for this era of the ‘knowledge worker’ we have been in?

I think we will see quite quickly that knowledge in many fields will become so easily accessible, that the world of work will change dramatically. What will differentiate workers will be less their level of knowledge and qualifications but more their ability to interact with both the technology and people. The ‘knowledge worker’ concept that Peter Drucker so eloquently developed is rapidly being replaced by what I call the ‘interactive worker’.

This poses some great questions. What kind of education will need to be provided to our children to face this fast changing world? What will differentiate office workers if knowledge and qualifications won’t be as relevant criteria as they might have been in the recent past?

There are possibly many clues and signs that can start shaping a possible direction society will go into but in truth no one really knows. It is down to us to decide how we would like AI to support us. Technology is here to stay and evolve, and humans are also here to stay and evolve (provided that some country leaders don’t gamble our future).

Personally, I see the emergence of the ‘interactive worker’ whose skills and competencies will be increasingly defined by their ability to interact with technology and with others to get some work done. And to get some work done with efficiency and high productivity. This will have higher value in the eyes of employers than just knowledge alone which will be so easily accessible at a relatively low cost. Knowledge won’t be as big a marker of differentiation anymore. The ‘knowledge worker’ will still be relevant to a degree, but her or his ability to get some work done through a combination of technological and human interaction will be more prevalent. We will increasingly need our critical mind and our emotional intelligence at work. This is the beginning of a thought that I am developing. Feel free to leave comments.

Hervé Rolland offers business coaching services to CEOs of organisations and strategy advisory services to SMEs.