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THE BIG IDEA
There’s a premium on AI skills—but who really has them?
Fifteen years ago, everyone put six words on their resume: “proficient in Word, Powerpoint, and Excel.” It sounds comical now. But we’re seeing the modern-day equivalent as tech workers try to cash in on the AI gold rush: proficient in ChatGPT, Midjourney, Perplexity.
A PWC report found that job listings for candidates with AI skills offer an average of 25% higher pay than more traditional roles. Our recent research showed that freelance product builders with generative AI skills have already begun to raise their rates. Tech workers are aggressively retraining, taking $6,200 two-week AI bootcamp crash courses.
The challenge for companies is: How do you sort out who has the chops and who is AI fronting? It’s one thing if they have a PhD in machine learning. But you don’t need a PhD to use generative AI to become a vastly more productive worker.
In an era where everyone says they’re good at AI, hiring managers need to dig deeper into the problem-solving skills that are a hallmark of workers who get the most out of AI.
Problem-solving is a notoriously tricky thing to interview for. Consulting firms have a battery of questions meant to reveal how a candidate thinks, like “How much should you charge to mow a lawn in Atlanta?” An article in Harvard Business Review proposes an even more old-school approach: the Socratic Method. They call it the Flip Interview—where the candidate interviews you: “The interviewer comes to the discussion with a business scenario, an understanding of relevant information, and an invitation to the interviewee to guide discovery through a series of questions.”
Our best advice: Allow them to work through a multi-layered problem with GPT-4 in real time. Then you’ll see whether the AI skills on their resume are real or pro forma.
CHART OF THE WEEK
Inside the hidden talent shortage
Microsoft and LinkedIn’s Annual Work Trend Index just came out earlier this month. They found that the use of generative AI has nearly doubled in the last six months, with 75% of global knowledge workers now using it.
While 45% of professionals worry AI will replace their jobs, 55% of leaders are concerned about having enough talent to fill roles in the year ahead.
The hardest-to-fill roles? The ones that are in highest demand in the age of AI: cybersecurity, engineering, and technical services. It’s interesting and heartening to note that there is also a talent shortage in creative design. AI hasn’t automated that one yet!
WATERCOOLER
Google’s AI Overview is experiencing technical difficulties
The search giant's new AI Overviews feature, which generates snippets of information in response to queries, has been caught serving up some hilariously inaccurate and outright dangerous outputs. Like recommending that people glue the cheese back on their pizza if it slips off.
Google's AI has been having a tough time separating facts from sarcastic posts written in classic Reddit deadpan. The pizza glue fiasco apparently came from a ten-year-old post by an individual named “fucksmith.” Other gems include claiming former President Obama is Muslim, that a dog played in the NBA, NFL and NHL, and listing Batman's occupation as "cop"—which would be news to Harvey Bullock.
Google says it's working to fix the "isolated" mistakes. Simultaneously, publishers are raising the alarm about these overviews diverting traffic and revenue from their sites. And Google, concerned over loosing ad revenue, is testing ads within AI snippets—which definitely won’t be annoying at all.
EVENTS
Gen AI Salon: Consumer Tech in a Sci-Fi World
Generative AI is rapidly transforming consumer tech, enabling personalized experiences once thought impossible. But ensuring privacy, fairness, and meeting sky-high consumer expectations remains a challenge.
On June 25th, we’re bringing together industry leaders to explore this new territory. Highlights include:
- Lightning talks from top AI innovators revealing their roadmaps for delighting consumers
- Expert panel tackling your biggest questions on calculated risks and overcoming unseen challenges
- A generative AI hackathon competition between 5 top A.Teams — where the power to select the winner will be in your hands
Whether attending virtually or in-person, you'll gain insights to stay ahead of the curve as we shape the future of AI-powered consumer tech.
MEME
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