Children should start using AI at the age of six so they don’t become the lost generation of workers, an expert has advised

To prevent children from becoming the lost generation of workers, an expert has recommended that parents teach them to use AI at the age of six.

Ed Broussard, Managing Director at Tomoro AI, helps companies navigate a market powered by artificial intelligence and shares skills the younger generation will need to live in a world quickly overrun by it.

He said DailyMail.com parents should let their children use chatbots like ChatGPT to create fun games and customized stories based on their ideas and find answers to certain questions they often ask.

The AI ​​expert shared other skills children need, such as being able to think without the internet and focus on jobs that don’t currently exist.

“I often joke with clients: the best person to hire in their company is the person who just cheated on their university exams using AI. They have already learned how to use AI to achieve great results,” says Broussard.

He added: ‘Employers of the future will need native AI users, where using AI to work faster, better and smarter will be second nature. But you can’t expect your children to embrace AI unless you are a role model for positive AI behavior yourself.’

He recommends starting children with AI while they are in primary school, and says the education system should also shift to teaching the technology.

“The jobs we’ll be doing will be completely different and require a different set of skills,” Broussard said.

“We need to make that change in our education systems now so we don’t produce a lost generation of workers with the wrong skills for the post-AI world.”

So what skills will be in demand in an AI-powered future?

Broussard explained that human skills such as leadership and independent thinking will still be valuable.

Being able to think without the internet

Many of us rely on Wikipedia, Google Maps or Google Search to find facts or directions.

An important skill in tomorrow’s world will be “outsourcing” thinking to an AI, Broussard said.

“The Internet reduced the value and need to remember things, even things as simple as directions home from a friend’s house,” he continued.

‘One of the problems that AI will bring is that it goes beyond just providing information and can actually replace the thinking of many people; by creating custom answers to very specific questions. As children adopt AI tools, it is important that we also teach them how to think, and that we should not outsource all that thinking to AI.”

‘You can help your children by stimulating their curiosity about the world.

‘If your kids ask how something works, or why it is that way, follow the thread, use YouTube, Google or even ChatGPT to explore how it works.

“Understanding how the world works will be critical in the future as more and more work is done by AI and people will need the knowledge to understand and challenge the output of AI systems.”

Ffocus on jobs that do not yet exist

“Most young kids in school today will be doing jobs that don’t exist yet,” Broussard said.

The World Economic Forum estimates that about 65 percent of children entering primary school today will eventually work in jobs that do not currently exist.

“Office jobs as a whole will not be redundant, but they will be more about entrepreneurship, communication and directing teams (and AIs) to complete tasks than about repeatedly completing the tasks themselves,” Broussard said.

‘That means that memory and the ability to follow structured processes will become less important, but communication, problem solving, ideation and creativity will remain crucial to a successful life.’

Learn a trade

Today’s jobs that require memory and training around facts and procedures, such as accounting, will decline in value, Broussard explains.

“More and more of these jobs are being done by AI,” he continued.

‘In a world with so much uncertainty, planning skills for a specific career is probably not the right path.

“Encourage your kids to do what they love, but make sure they do it with AI as a companion and you’ll set them up for success,” says Broussard

But it can be useful to train children for jobs such as teaching, nursing or professions, he explains.

“Professions such as carpentry, plumbers and electricians that require practical applications and on-site problem solving will be much less disrupted,” Broussard said.