Artificial intelligence is transforming Australia’s education and workforce landscape. In Australia, AI proficiency has become a key hiring requirement, with an increase of 240% in AI-related hiring since 2016. This explosive growth, coupled with the continuing advancement of AI technologies, poses a challenge for families, schools, and universities: preparing children for a future in which AI has become an intricate part of nearly every job.
Macquarie Business School aims to eliminate misconceptions. AI holds fearsome potential by explaining why learning AI is pivotal for Australia’s youth.
Shifting Focus From Learning About Declining Job Opportunities To Self-Designing Career Pathways
The rise of AI enables students to select subjects tailored to their interests, explore potential career pathways, and even forecast emerging trends. AI is becoming a staple in career-planning services across all education levels.
AI-related fears may not be productive, but regrets of missing out on life opportunities due to negligence hold great importance for education policy, explained Mauricio Marrone, an associate professor from Macquarie Business School, during his recent interview. The professor noted a growing divide among students wherein one cohort, largely entering the workforce, seemed anxious, while another group viewed AI as supportive to their aspirations.
Together with Associate Professor Sarah Bankins, Marrone has authored an article titled ‘Navigating Career Stages in the Age of Artificial Intelligence.’ In the publication, they look into the degree to which generative AI systems predict career trajectories as well as the new-age skills that contemporary employers expect from prospective employees. They argue that students who are well-versed with the workflows of AI systems are better prepared concerning employment in an evolving job market.
“Students with realistic expectations tend to fare well in simulated environments,” is a succinct way Marrone described the synergy of minimal expectations misaligned with reality paired with unflared housing.
Additionally, the associate principal explained that even recent technological advancements needn’t be intimidating in nature, as the underlying principles tend to be vastly straightforward and simple when leveraged widely through the disguised tools of contemporary technology.
The Cognitive Revolution: Why AI Is Unlike Any Tech Before It
Unlike previous technological changes, AI is capable of thinking, or at least simulating cognitive tasks that require human intellect. Unlike automaton technologies that replaced manual work, AI systems can learn from data, adapt, and make autonomous decisions.
“AI’s capability to learn from data, adapt to new information, and make autonomous decisions represents a fundamental shift in how technology integrates with human work and decision-making processes.”
As a result, solutions to problems can be approached differently within every discipline and profession. For instance, Marrone applies AI in his visualization techniques to transform intricate data sets into accessible formats for learners. He also employs AI to summarize long podcasts, discover recipes, curate travel plans, and assist him in staying abreast of global matters.
A New Era of Personalized Learning
For tertiary students, AI could potentially enhance the effectiveness and personalization of education like never before. AI tools can design lesson plans and provide targeted appeal based on a student’s strengths and weaknesses, giving tailored feedback on each lesson while streamlining the studying process.
“As Marrone mentioned, “It will enhance assignment feedback, improve accessibility by producing different media formats and enable students to focus on higher-order thinking and creative problem solving instead of menial tasks.”
Outside of class, AI already fulfills an important function in the workforce. It helps match graduates to suitable employment, analyzes industry trends, and offers tailored career advice. Supported by Marrone, this growing trend indicates the use of AI tools in universities for these purposes by adopting AI is expected to thrive.
“I believe that after university, AI will continue influencing many facets of students’ lives, including career advancement and job searching,” he remarked.
No Tech Degree Required: Building AI Literacy
“For decades, the concept of AI literacy has remained unexplored within the technology domain. Writes Mardones, “While writing this report, he discovered that AI is really not confined to the realm of computer science.’”
It greatly assists students, but at its best, AI doesn’t need anything technical to help raise app literacy—in this case, undertaking a task towards ethical reality.
“To build these skills, Marrone points to ChatGPT, Gemini from Google, and Copilot from Microsoft. Encourage reading their text creation; their image-creating counterparts, DALL-E, Midjourney, and Stable Diffusion from OpenAI, too.”
He advocates for trying different prompts, reading through the documentation, and utilizing the self-paced introductory tutorials offered on the web. “AI literacy should be perceived as an auxiliary capability that enhances one’s primary discipline instead of displacing it,” Marrone cited.
In the case that a student is majoring in history, economics, or even engineering, AI literacy is an increasingly vital skill alongside reading, writing, and online interaction.
The Future Is Now
Researchers have delivered a straightforward message: AI technology is present and here to stay. Rather than being viewed as a risk, there is the opportunity for Australians—and particularly students—to leverage AI as a means for innovation and growth.
“AI literacy is becoming fundamental, regardless of one’s specialization, much like digital literacy,” noted Marrone.
With the advancement of AI technology, it’s important to learn how to engage with the technology and everything it offers. Understanding how to think with AI—rather than just about it—could define the next generation’s skills.
