How will the world fare when AI agents get involved more and more in conventional workflows? According to an executive, who spent time with Meta and Salesforce previously, “nothing would ever be the same” with AI getting into every job.
Clara Shih, who has spent over 20 years building AI systems, has warned the world about the future of work. She got a look at everything that Meta’s latest AI agents have outperformed even top-performing employees at the company. This has led to the realisation that AI radicalised her take on corporate roles in modern society, and that things won’t be the same ever again.
Shih, who is presently an advisor at Meta, described the current entry-level job market as the toughest in 37 years.
AI makes the entry-level job ‘tough’
In a social media post on X (formerly Twitter), the AI-induced automation is rapidly degrading traditional starting positions, creating a huge divide between those who master AI and those who don’t. She says that the AI tools impart significant advantages, while those who avoid AI struggle to find opportunities.
Shih’s turning point came when her team’s AI agents began matching or surpassing high-performing staff across multiple tasks. “In that moment I knew that nothing would ever be the same,” she told Fortune in an interview. “You feel radicalised in that moment when you see it working.”
Shih recognised that every job is now becoming an AI job. Workers must either direct AI to get the job done or risk being directed by it. This realisation, combined with pleas for career advice from her nieces, nephews, and other young graduates, prompted her to shift focus toward public advocacy and education.
“If you want to find a job and if you want to keep your job, you need to learn how to get really good at using AI agents,” she said.
She also highlighted that AI proficiency is no longer optional but essential across all professions, i.e., you need to know AI regardless of the job you do in any field
Young generation needs to get hold of AI
To address the concern, Shih has founded the New Work Foundation as a nonprofit dedicated to teaching Gen Z with free, open-source AI tools and skills to survive in an AI-driven economy. Some of the key tools as part of this initiative include JobClaw – an open-source job matching agent mapping users’ strengths and interests to suitable roles while identifying necessary AI skills.
Then there’s Field Report, which provides insights into specific career paths, including open positions, competition levels, and AI automation risks.
With AI now infusing itself into every job, the younger and older generations are now required to reskill themselves to survive the AI revolution in all aspects. Tech experts and AI specialists have insisted that AI tools are here to stay and they will become an important part of the jobs, regardless of whether one works in IT or any creative field.
However, amid calls for increased adoption, Gen Z have a negative taste of the AI technology. A recent poll by Gallup found that Gen Z’s sentiments have grown more negative towards AI.