Due to the rapid development of Artificial Intelligence (AI), the IT sector has a need for new specializations, such as “smart environment” development, data architecture, data journalism, and digital linguistics. Senior Partner of the technology company Roosh, Sergey Kartashov shares his thoughts on what new professions will be in demand in the information technology market in the near future.
In the expert’s opinion, the coronavirus pandemic has become a kind of stimulus for innovations in the high-tech sector. According to the statistics, 9 out of 14 new specializations that emerged during the Covid-19 pandemic require digital skills. Remote working has already ceased to be something out of the ordinary. The same can be said for education, online shopping, and banking.
According to the high-profile article “The Cult of Busyness,” published by the magazine Vice, people like remote working so much that they don’t want to go back to their offices. This trend has fostered an even more rapid development of digitalization. Sergey Kartashov believes that this impacted the labor market. Specialists capable of working with AR (augmented reality), VR (virtual reality), and MR (mixed reality) systems will be in high demand.
According to the businessman, one of the most in-demand professions will be a 3D virtual reality artist, since 3D modeling will be actively used in creating video games and educational programs, in archeology, and even for medical purposes (for example, in surgery). The expert mentions a virtual copy of the ancient Greek sanctuary of Olympia, developed by Microsoft together with the Ministry of Culture and Sports in Greece, as an example. The users just need to install the corresponding application on their devices to stroll through the ancient place where the Olympic Games appeared.
Another area that Sergey Kartashov draws attention to is digital production, or rather, the production of digital twins. They represent an exact 3D model of the original product and are used if a tricky field experiment needs to be performed. For example, a digital twin will become an indispensable tool for testing the spacecraft and will help its manufacturers significantly save costs.
Creating and experimenting with the digital twins entails processing a lot of data. And here comes a need for another profession—a big data analyst. Such a specialist will help detect hidden patterns within the system, thereby improving the manufacturers’ performance.
Big data processing is required in linguistics as well, so digital linguists will also be in high demand. The task of such a specialist is to teach machine learning algorithms to identify errors. To do this, one will have to process a huge amount of textual data. Therefore, according to Sergey Kartashov, a digital linguist should have pretty much the same skills as a classical one: the ability to memorize a huge amount of information, impeccable literacy, persistence, the ability to perform monotonous work, as well as systematic thinking.
Artificial Intelligence will also boost innovation in medicine. Sergey Kartashov believes that technologies based on AI will help doctors make diagnoses, analyze medical parameters, identify pathologies, and treat diseases. According to the businessman, the task of the most daring medical startups is to try to implant sensors into a human body that will not only measure certain indicators but also warn in case they deviate from the normal ones.
The skeptics may say that due to the onrush of technology, some traditional professions are forced to disappear. But this is a natural process that has happened more than once in history: lamplighters, switchboard operators, and human computers were replaced by programmers, marketers, and data analysts. And the new IT era will require new professions and create new jobs.
