Professions of the Future

On October 29, 2023, we celebrated the 100th anniversary of the Republic of Turkey with great enthusiasm. We feel happy when we look at what we have achieved on the path of civilization so far. One of the things we must do to ensure the second century is even more successful is to learn from the past, closely follow the developments taking place in the world, and play a pioneering role.

I would like to share my thoughts on what we can do within the framework of my own knowledge and expertise. First of all, as of the last decade of the twentieth century and approximately the first quarter of the twenty-first century, we see that the dominance of technology in the lives of individuals, societies, and states is gradually increasing.

The fact that individuals are addicted to technology, that societies that create and use technology further increase their welfare levels and widen the gap between them and other societies, that states' abilities to monitor, control, and direct society using technological tools are increasing, and that this negatively affects societies in totalitarian regimes can be cited as the negative effects that technology has brought us.

All these developments are also causing major changes in a very important issue for our future. Our professions are transforming. Some of our professions are disappearing, and other professions are emerging in their place. Just as the industrial revolution gradually destroyed craftsmanship, for example, computers did not destroy printing, but they changed it significantly. Similarly, computers and the internet transformed the media sector. Today, we see that it is artificial intelligence's turn to transform professions.

Typically, we can classify the professions that could be affected by artificial intelligence as follows:

1. Data Scientists and Analysts: Artificial intelligence helps them develop big data analysis and predictive models.
2. Software Developers: Artificial intelligence and machine learning are optimizing software development processes.
3. Healthcare Professionals: Artificial intelligence plays a major role in the fields of diagnosis, treatment, and hospital management.
4. Educators: Artificial intelligence is used to monitor student performance and provide personalized learning experiences.
5. Legal Professionals and Legal Researchers: Law firms and courts use artificial intelligence to examine case documents and legal texts.

New opportunities and professions may also emerge in the field of communication studies with artificial intelligence. We can list the possible new professions as follows:

1. Artificial Intelligence Communication Consultants: They can advise companies and organizations on how to best use artificial intelligence technologies in terms of public communication.
2. Artificial Intelligence Content Editors: They can work to edit content created by artificial intelligence and make it suitable for human readers.
3. Artificial Intelligence and Ethics Experts: Experts who examine the ethical use of artificial intelligence and provide guidance on this subject may be needed.

Contrary to what is said and the common belief in society, I am of the opinion that the idea that artificial intelligence and the robots that possess it will one day take all professions out of human hands is wrong.

In his book, The Rise of the Network Society, the famous thinker Manuel Castells states that China, which created key inventions that changed the world such as iron tempering, the hydraulic iron hammer, large-tonnage ships that traveled the oceans, paper, printing, gunpowder, and the compass, had moved away from innovation by 1430, banning geographical discoveries and the construction of large-tonnage ships.

He points to 'the fear that administrators felt in the face of the potentially destructive effects of technological change on social stability' as the reason for this. Thus, “bureaucrats content with the status quo” in China contributed to a process that led to the colonial impositions of Great Britain with the Opium Wars in 1842.

Thus, when China “realized that its isolationist policies could not protect it from the evil consequences of technological mediocrity,” it would have to spend more than a century to compensate for this. The most important lesson we can learn from China's experience, in my opinion, is that we must abandon status quoism and be open to developments, and even be pioneers.

In this second century of our Republic, we must work to raise it above the level of contemporary civilization, as Atatürk said.