Summarize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs in Arabic Hello and welcome to Working It.I\u2019m Bethan Staton, the FT\u2019s deputy Work and Careers editor, standing in for Isabel this week.\u00a0Tomorrow is the longest day of the year. I was interested to learn this week that according to some readings, the summer solstice is linked to work. In early cultures, Midsummer celebrations may have marked changes between crop cycles, with rituals such as bonfires aiming to ensure the labours of the year paid off and brought a good harvest. These days, shorter nights also change our experience of work: early sunrises might mean enjoying some extra time before heading to the office, maybe doing some exercise outside. Long evenings and warmer weather are an opportunity for after-work socialising: on Thursdays, at this time of year, the streets around the FT\u2019s office are filled with the roar of pint-clutching, suited crowds that gather outside City pubs, the sound of after work in the summer time.On the subject of ancient agricultural knowledge, read on for some thoughts from me about how more contemporary expertise might be in danger of being lost. The end of expertise?\u00a0Deskilling \u2014 humans getting out of practice as technology replaces us at work \u2014 is a well-established risk of artificial intelligence. But in fevered predictions of how it will make our lives easier, or cause a job apocalypse, the more nuanced dangers of AI sometimes get overlooked.That\u2019s why I was pleased to review Matt Beane\u2019s The Skill Code, an anthropological take on how we develop skill, for the FT this month. Beane argues that to build expertise we need to start with easy tasks and gradually challenge ourselves by making them increasingly difficult, with the help of people we trust. Technology can disrupt that, by removing challenges or doing the early, easy stuff for us.It\u2019s pretty obvious how large language models might intensify that problem. I\u2019ve already noticed many companies broadcasting the ways AI improves efficiency, often by doing work such as trawling legal cases, or basic research, that is typically done by novice hires.\u00a0I asked Beane what he thought LLMs might mean for skills and learning. He has bad news: the new technology looks like it will \u201cmake the learning bond more difficult\u201d. By allowing us to skip over steps involved in a task, LLMs isolate us from \u201cfriction\u201d activities \u2014 things such as looking something up, or asking colleagues for advice \u2014 that help us learn. Tech might help produce \u201cslightly above average\u201d work much faster, but this \u201creduces the challenge that would enhance your skills over time.\u201d\u00a0That\u2019s not to say these short-cuts are bad, nor that we should stick religiously with old ways of doing things. But it\u2019s worth thinking about how people can continue to develop skills as work is automated.\u00a0On that point, three pieces of advice Beane suggested stuck out for me. First, if you want to keep learning make sure you are maintaining human connections: asking questions, working on tasks with colleagues, and helping less experienced workers. Make sure mentoring still happens. \u201cIf you\u2019re not cultivating bonds of trust and mutual respect with other human beings, your skill development is going to hit a wall,\u201d says Beane.\u00a0Second, push yourself, or make sure others in your team are able to. \u201cThe western world, to radically overgeneralise, has become a bit of a padded playground when it comes to work,\u201d Beane says. Being \u201cdeprived of the ability to work close to your limits, to perform slightly less well than you normally would\u201d means being deprived of ways to learn.\u00a0That segues nicely into a third point \u2014 keep in mind that the easiest paths come with pitfalls. Beane argues organisations tend to opt for productivity over skills development \u2014 making things easier or quicker rather than creating circumstances where staff can improve. \u201cMaybe that gets you ahead in the short run. But what does that do to you in the long run?\u201d Of course, the ability to use AI well is in itself a skill. And some of the abilities we outsource to AI may not be greatly missed anyway. Expertise in crop cycles and bonfire building is of less use these days than when our ancestors were celebrating the summer solstice \u2014 even if some of us still get a lot of joy from the long days of midsummer.\u00a0Will AI stop us from acquiring the skills we need? I\u2019d love to hear what you think \u2014 drop me an email at bethan.staton@ft.comThis week on the Working It podcast What\u2019s the state of AI in recruitment? Is talking to an avatar instead of a human interviewer going to help candidates overcome their nerves \u2014 and prevent hiring managers from falling for their own biases? I wanted to find out what the latest developments are in this (extremely) fast-moving arena, so in this week\u2019s episode I talk to Ali Ansari, founder of micro1, home of the robot interviewer, and to Chano Fernandez, co-CEO of Eightfold, an AI-driven people management platform. I am still undecided on whether an AI recruiter is \u201cbetter\u201d \u2014 but it\u2019s certainly faster. Isabel BerwickFive top stories from the world of work Interested in the WFH argument? Home in on the evidence: Do more flexible approaches to where we work improve performance, or make hitting targets more difficult? The results from this solid study on hybrid working are in \u2014 and if you enjoy a couple of days working from your living room, the news is good\u2018Insane\u2019 pay rates for junior London lawyers raise concern over culture: I admit I\u2019m not going to lose much sleep over junior lawyers paid \u00a3150k, but this piece from the frontline of the battle for talent among London\u2019s law firms raises some important questions about what the trend for turbocharged remuneration means for culture and equalityLondon drags down UK productivity: London is still much more productive than the rest of the country, but recent Office for National Statistics figures showed the gap narrowing. That could be a sign of a less unbalanced economy, but it might also sound the alarm in terms of wider national growthMaking sense of Gen Z: employers seek answers on younger workers: How does Gen Z differ from other generations? It\u2019s a question employers are asking more and more \u2014 and one a new crop of consultants and advisers are poised to answer. This fun piece delves into what they have to shareEmployees embrace WFH (Work from hairdressers): Flexibility over where and when people work means a trip to the salon can now be extra productive, with some workers taking Zoom calls mid shampoo and cut. In response, enterprising businesses are setting themselves up as co-working facilitiesOne more thing I\u2019m currently reading Butter by Asako Yuzuki. Inspired by the real-life story of Japan\u2019s \u201cKonkatsu Killer\u201d, it\u2019s an entertaining exploration of the oppressive expectations placed on women, at work and in relationships, and a surprisingly perceptive take on life in journalism, too. Everything in the book is mediated through relationships with food, which means it\u2019s introduced me to some delectably simple recipes \u2014 the book\u2019s descriptions of rice with butter and soy sauce will have you salivating. Bethan Next week is the first instalment of the FT\u2019s webinar series marking the Business Book of the Year Awards. It\u2019s on creating and energising a strong corporate culture \u2014 essential for anyone involved in talent retention or simply getting the best from your staff. You can sign up here. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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