Essential Skills for IT Professionals in the AI Era; IEEE Spectrum, August 27, 2024

KUMAR SINGIRIKONDA , IEEE Spectrum; Essential Skills for IT Professionals in the AI Era

"Artificial Intelligence is transforming industries worldwide, creating new opportunities in health care, finance, customer service, and other disciplines. But the ascendance of AI raises concerns about job displacement, especially as the technology might automate tasks traditionally done by humans.

Jobs that involve data entry, basic coding, and routine system maintenance are at risk of being eliminated—which might worry new IT professionals. AI also creates new opportunities for workers, however, such as developing and maintaining new systems, data analysis, and cybersecurity. If IT professionals enhance their skills in areas such as machine learning, natural language processing, and automation, they can remain competitive as the job market evolves.

Here are some skills IT professionals need to stay relevant, as well as advice on how to thrive and opportunities for growth in the industry...

Key insights into AI ethics

Understanding the ethical considerations surrounding AI technologies is crucial. Courses on AI ethics and policy provide important insights into ethical implications, government regulations, stakeholder perspectives, and AI’s potential societal, economic, and cultural impacts.

I recommend reviewing case studies to learn from real-world examples and to get a grasp of the complexities surrounding ethical decision-making. Some AI courses explore best practices adopted by organizations to mitigate risks."

Coronavirus will radically alter the U.S.; The Washington Post, March 20, 2020

William Wan, Joel Achenbach, Carolyn Y. Johnson and Ben Guarino, The Washington Post; Coronavirus will radically alter the U.S.

Here’s what may lie ahead based on math models, hospital projections and past pandemics

"The power of the individual

Stanford virologist Karla Kirkegaard said she has tried to stave off dread from the projected U.S. death tolls with a case study she teaches in her classes:

Amid a cholera outbreak in mid-19th century London, as panicked residents fled one hard-hit neighborhood, a doctor named John Snow calmly entered the breach. He deduced that the source of hundreds of deaths was a single contaminated water pump and persuaded authorities to remove the pump’s handle — a strategy that ended the outbreak.

Controlling the covid-19 pandemic will take much more than a single water pump, Kirkegaard acknowledged as she sheltered in place at her Bay Area home.

But the story, she said, reminds her how powerful the simple act of one individual can be."

MIA Ethics Bowl Team Best in State; Coastal Breeze News, April 12, 2018

Barry Gwinn, Coastal Breeze News; MIA Ethics Bowl Team Best in State

"Ground zero for this change at MIA is the Ethics Bowl Team, a little known group who have been immersed in ethical issues for the past three years. On January 27, the current team won the Florida State Ethics Bowl championship and will get a shot at a national championship, beginning on April 20 at Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The issues they discuss are provided by the National High School Ethics Bowl (NHSEB), headquartered on the campus of the University of North Carolina. The NHSEB oversees both regional and national competitions.

Mentoring and coaching the MIA team is math teacher, Chris Liebhart, who doubles as head baseball coach and assistant coach on three other varsity teams at the school...

For the national championships, the NHSEB had provided them with 16 case studies which were laid out like a law school hornbook, complete with references and case citations. The topics ranged from the Electoral College, Confederate monuments, male circumcision, and eminent domain, to dating on Tinder. The team would have to be prepared to discuss eight of these cases, but would not know in advance which ones they would draw."