The UK will struggle to fill future jobs if computer science and artificial intelligence (AI) are not part of the school curriculum, research has warned.
Demand for jobs requiring such skills is expected to grow by 40% over the next five years, but with only 15% of UK businesses adopting AI, the country is at risk of falling behind, a report said.
Research by Capital Economics suggests that teaching AI skills in secondary schools could help meet growing demand for computer science and other such roles, supporting an average of £71bn a year in economic output by 2030.
According to YouGov, 72% of middle school teachers support active efforts to increase education and resources in artificial intelligence and computer science. Without it, 75% worry about long-term skills gaps.
But in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) Of the teachers surveyed, 64% have limited access to computer science resources — that rises to 79% when focusing on AI.
Middle school students were also surveyed, and 33 percent of them had only heard of artificial intelligence from science fiction movies and books.
The research was commissioned by Amazon, which worked with futurist Dr. Ian Pearson to compile a list of innovative computer science and artificial intelligence jobs that could emerge in the coming years.
Artificial intelligence will replace human ‘misunderstandings’
Dr Pearson said there was a “misconception” that AI would massively replace humans in the workplace, insisting that humans were still essential for some of the most futuristic-sounding roles.
These include Metaverse engineers, AI sports coaches and tech fashion designers.
“There is no doubt that artificial intelligence will play a vital role in our future,” added Dr. Pearson.
“But it’s not just hardware development – we need people at every stage of the process to make real progress.
“There are real misconceptions about developing technology, and by putting together this list of jobs of the future, we want to illustrate not only where we think AI supports the future of work, but also the importance of people in the process.
“Nearly half (47%) of the students surveyed said they had no idea what jobs involving AI could be in the future, so we wanted to show them these innovative, exciting jobs, and the skills needed that we could inspire They think about their roles in technology and computer science.”
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Amazon also launched a program for middle school students to create their own Alexa skills to promote positive causes in their communities.
Alexa Skills are commands that can be assigned to the tech giant’s increasingly popular voice assistant, most commonly used for things like turning on lights and playing music.
As part of the program, teachers and educators will receive free lesson plans and materials, and local students have been invited to Amazon’s London headquarters for inspiration.
They were able to take part in activities inspired by Dr. Pearson’s future work, including shooting an AI-powered robotic goalkeeper.
The challenge is part of Amazon’s broader Future Engineers program, which offers computer science-related grant programs, teacher training and online tutorials.