Automation, Digitization, and Artificial Intelligence By Hossam Badrawi

**”Automation, Digitization, and Artificial Intelligence”**

By:
Hossam Badrawi

I believe the most important skills that young people need for work now and in the future are the ability to work in teams, communication skills, flexibility, adaptability to change , digital skills, computer expertise and knowing a second language besides Arabic .
Some may think this is outside the scope of specialisation like medicine, engineering, law, military colleges, and practical technical schools, as remarked by one young man from the dreamers of tomorrow group.

I replied to him: No, my son, these skills are needed by doctors, engineers, lawyers, officers, teachers, and all specialisations. There is no place in today’s job market, and certainly in the future, for those who lack these skills.

Many of today’s jobs will disappear and new jobs will emerge, making it harder for job seekers than it is now. In numerical terms, this might be true, as some jobs will indeed disappear in the next five years. Most of these are repetitive tasks, but on the other hand, thousands of new jobs will be created. This expands the range of available jobs rather than reducing them.

For instance, someone who could not work as a taxi driver in the past can now work as an Uber driver. The role of the driver will evolve into a mobile secretary, becoming more than merely a driver, and requiring new skills. Also, someone who couldn’t work in customer service at a workplace can now do the same job from home. Nowadays, even doctors should work in teams and focus on primary healthcare specialties. Without this, the new health insurance system, which assigns a number of residents to a group of primary care doctors requiring digital skills and communication abilities, will not succeed.

Some jobs will disappear, such as data entry roles, as digital management grows and “automation” takes over, collecting information via big data.

Specialisations will completely change as new work platforms evolve. For instance, there are specialisations we’ve never known before such as virtual reality developers, autonomous vehicle engineers, vertical farming specialists in cities, and green transformation jobs. Additionally, there are roles like data analysts, computer systems analysts, information security specialists, code creators and analysts, digital marketers, and software designers.

Unfortunately, most of these new specialisations do not have educational curricula or training programs in schools & universities. Instead, large companies are preparing young people for these roles, not the traditional educational institutions.

The essence of the profession in fields like law and medicine may persist, but the specifications of future doctors and lawyers are changing now and will continue to change. This is due to the availability of knowledge and alternatives, qualitative changes in service seekers, instant review of professional decisions, and the ability to compare them with global standards.

Furthermore, remote education and training have become a reality. This eliminates the need to buy land or rent buildings and spend billions for provision of services. Micro-certificates (Nano degrees) are emerging and will continue to emerge, which do not cost much for those interested and provide professional diplomas to improve employee performance, as long as students possess the necessary skills.

Technical education and vocational training are evolving so that those in these professions are considered on par with others in terms of the skills we discuss. This elevates the profession, increases respect in society, and enhances resources.

There are some terms that are frequently used but many might not understand their meanings. For example, what do we mean by automation, digitisation, and artificial intelligence?

The term “automation” is a newly coined and Arabized term that means automatic operation and refers to anything that operates autonomously without human intervention. Automation can be described as the use of computers, devices based on processors or controllers, and software in various industrial, commercial, and service sectors to ensure processes and operations run automatically, accurately, and correctly with minimal error. In short, automation is the art of making processes and machines operate automatically with greater efficiency and less time, without human intervention.

“Digitisation” is the conversion of written, spoken, audible, and visual communication into digital electronic messages that everyone can understand and can be saved and retrieved quickly and easily. We can say that everything in the old world that required a written document to endure can now be digitised, Otherwise, it would vanish, but as a result of digitisation, there is now higher efficiency in work, art, research, and education. This comes at lower costs, with better control and unprecedented accessibility, providing opportunities for our children and youth that were never available to our parents and grandparents.

We need to understand the difference between the concept of regular computing, regardless of its digital capabilities, and artificial intelligence AI.

Regular computing, also known as classical computing, took a long time for many people to comprehend. It relies on a specific set of instructions or algorithms to perform tasks. The same input will always produce the same output. Examples include basic arithmetic operations, data processing tasks, and software applications that do not learn from data but operate within their programmed capabilities.

Artificial intelligence (AI), on the other hand, refers to the development of systems capable of performing tasks that typically require human intelligence. Unlike regular computing, AI systems are designed to improve over time by learning from the data they process. This is achieved through techniques such as machine learning and deep learning. Regular computing cannot learn from data and requires explicit programming for each task, whereas AI can enhance its performance over time without needing explicit programming for every task. AI, especially systems designed with neural networks, can handle ambiguous or complex problems with a level of flexibility akin to human thought processes, but it surpasses human capabilities in depth, speed, and analysis.

In summary, AI exceeds the classical boundaries of computing, aiming to simulate human intelligence by learning from data and experiences. This makes it more suitable for tasks that require adaptation, interpretation, and autonomous decision-making.

From my perspective, AI represents an enormous opportunity for advancement and service to humanity, and it cannot be halted. However, skeptics and those resistant to progress will attempt to hinder its use, just as they have historically resisted the use of reason and thought, clinging to the stages of human infancy. They will be unable to adapt to changes, fall behind, and end up trailing events or in the dumpster of progress.

In the age of AI, everyone starts from the same START line. There is an opportunity for us to keep pace with humanity at the same moment. Our children and youth do not need to bridge a knowledge gap that will rapidly expand in the coming years, months, or even days.

Traditional education must change because the job market is advancing in development and innovation. Otherwise, educational institutions will lose their role in shaping the future. Education should not be considered merely a response to the current job market, unemployment rates, or the state of a particular profession at a specific moment in time. Instead, it should focus on building individuals capable of driving development, not just filling existing needs. It should create opportunity-makers and achievers, not merely beneficiaries. It should develop well-rounded personalities that use the resources of the era for the benefit of humanity, not its destruction.

An education system that ignores emerging developments and changes shaping tomorrow gradually loses its relevance to students’ lives. Therefore, we must reformulate our educational institutions from preschool to university to prepare our students for the future, not the past.

Furthermore, we must not forget the importance of humanizing education, to ensure our humanity isn’t lost amid efforts toward digitization and automation. Everything imagined by the mind will happen, for it wouldn’t have crossed our minds otherwise initially. The biological cycle that used to span thousands or millions of years now lasts less than two years. The key is how we participate in creating this future, rather than merely sitting as spectators who applaud, criticize, transmit, and consume without contributing culturally.

As we participate, it is imperative to uphold virtues and values such as honesty, integrity, compassion, tolerance, and justice, among other good values. We need to declare and commit to them while building this future, without arrogance over others based on wealth, history, or religion, and without violence, discrimination, hatred, or excommunication. Instead, with open-mindedness, love, respect for diversity, multiple ideas, and a new reality.