As a fully qualified and trained career guidance professional, who was also brought up on a heady mix of Isaac Asimov, Star Trek, ancient Greek myths and later dipped my toe into philosophy whilst at university, I’m able to offer a unique perspective on this question.
We live in an age where we have seen commentators predict the “death of art”, when the means of production shifted to the hands of the masses via technology. Most people in the West have a smartphone in their pockets. They are able to create their own individual masterpieces, whether pictures of a perfect sunrise or yesterday’s lunch. Controversy around AI being used to create images, write articles and even books, has spooked many in the creative industries and created a contentious area for discussion.
However, none of this technology has completely stopped art being created by other (non-AI) means, nor stopped art being bought and sold, whether by Sunday painters or professional artists and their patrons.
Some argue that human authenticity is now a far more valuable commodity in an age where AI can create an article, musical tune, ringtone or picture at the drop of a hat. I would say the same is true of those we seek personal career guidance from.
I believe that in the long term and immediate future, AI will fail to provide this level of authenticity within personal career guidance.
Why do I think that the “machines” (or AI) won’t destroy our jobs?
Several reasons. Firstly, there is a misconception that fully trained and qualified career development professionals, whether career advisers, career coaches or career counsellors, are looking to help their clients make purely “logic-based” decisions. If this were the case, AI may eventually be better equipped at helping our clients make “logical” choices.
From such a premise, we could envisage a future where AI will coolly harvest all the facts from the internet and then present the verdict without fear nor favour to our clients, who would then bow to its mastery of knowledge, blindly following the advice provided.
People don’t behave or think like this though (and career development professionals don’t work this way).
I can hear the outcry and recriminations already, similar to when psychometric or career tests are used without care in schools… “But I didn’t want to be an X, Y or Z!” comes the cry! “A machine won’t tell me what to do!” say others.
Even if AI were at the stage where its “logic” would not be distorted by pools of outdated or biased information or even misinformation on the internet, it lacks the one ingredient that helps us as humans make decisions and support each other with these decisions.
We may call this ingredient (in base terms) humanity, or even “the intangible nature of being” but, I summarise it as “authenticity”.
Decision making
Looking to history we can see cases of how having access to vast sources of knowledge and executive summaries does not necessarily mean that the most “logical” decision is always the best one. We can’t always see into the future and predict with one hundred percent accuracy how our decisions will unfurl. As the careers theorist Jim Bright from Australia has often noticed, there is always too much chaos at play.
The honed wisdom and professional training that my colleagues within career guidance, coaching and counselling bring, is this understanding. We are aware that many of us learn best when we make our own decisions. Professional careers support helps us to learn and understand from (among other things) exploring the possible consequences of our choices. These include learning how to make healthy decisions for ourselves, to seek out the truth as we find it, and to research and discern the differences between misinformation and accurate information. With professional careers support we can develop an understanding of what is important to us and the life we wish to lead, both now and in the future. These skills are useful not just in developing a career or life plan, but also in so many other areas of our lives.
As career development professionals we understand that what initially may look like (according to logic) a “bad career decision” to some, can result in it being the right one for that individual, via a combination of discovery, growth, serendipity and sometimes a touch of chance.
The glint in someone’s eye
Professional career guidance helps to “lubricate transitions” at key moments in our lives, such as whether to choose to go to university via Clearing or take a year out, to pursue an apprenticeship or go to a sixth form or college. If someone doesn’t get the GCSE grades needed for a particular opportunity, the option might still be possible through a twisty or “squiggly” pathway (illuminated by their career development professional acting as a guide). A different pathway may still lead to the desired destination. Whether the choice is to take a gamble or play it safe, these choices are the client’s own.
These are not choices where there is one right answer or any “logical solution”, but they are situations where, having a trained career development professional to help explore the possible consequences of these decisions, without judgement nor cool detachment, is vital.
Donald Schon would call these choices “the swampy lowlands”; in life, we often call them the “grey areas” where things aren’t clear. Logic-based AI systems struggle with such areas (as years of science fiction and current experiences in the world of AI tell us).
Lastly, AI lacks immediacy and warmth, an ability to relate and pick out the individual worry, hope, or story, which is vital to each of us. AI can’t “reflect back” to our clients the key points and ask the searching questions that help our clients to discover their direction or rediscover their sense of purpose or even hope. AI can’t catch the glint in a person’s eye and ask, “What was it you wanted to ask me but didn’t?”
AI can help us seek answers to straightforward questions on what the possible options and pathways are (indeed it may become a vital tool for many of us – career development professionals included), but it can’t help us see what is meaningful when we are struggling to decide or find a direction and purpose. Personal career guidance, counselling or coaching from a trained career development professional can.
For those of us in the profession, it is our passion and “raison d’être” to help others find their way through and on. We are the independent, non-judgemental, empathic guides with heart, helping our clients on their paths to fulfilment, happiness and success. We can save the NHS money in mental healthcare and ensure that individuals are not stuck in jobs where they can’t fulfil their true potential.
Where to access professional career guidance
If you are seeking help and support with your career, life journey or job, you can find your nearest fully qualified Registered Career Development Professional (RCDP) by searching the Career Development Institute (CDI) Professional Register. Alternatively, contact the careers service of your respective home nation for support.
Please note: The thoughts and ideas expressed in this article are my own and don’t necessarily represent those of my employer.
© Chris Targett
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