Around 100 businesspeople, employees and jobseekers attended Work Avenue’s first ever Power of AI event – to hear from four Jewish experts in the field.
The evening was opened by Work Avenue CEO Debbie Lebrett, who thanked everyone for coming in the exceptionally difficult and upsetting times the community is facing.
She then introduced the four speakers, who discussed how AI can be utilised to help people in their work and businesses and how we can allay fears over it taking our jobs away.
Gabriel Kissin, a data scientist and AI researcher, talked about how parts of our future jobs will be automated, while others will always need the human touch. He said: “If every person looks at the different aspects of their work, there will always be some things that a computer is going to be better at but some where it won’t be so good. The best person to work out how each job can be subdivided, and how to use AI to deliver a superior service, is you!”
Following the same theme Martyn Redstone, who helps HR and recruitment teams with AI, talked about how technology often disrupts the world of work and it’s up to us to take advantage of it – giving the example of lamplighters.
He said: “When the lightbulb was invented, the sensible lamplighters learnt how to become electricians. With everyone industrial revolution that happens, what we see historically that more jobs are created than are displaced. There are a lot more electricians nowadays than there were lamplighters 150 years ago. What Work Avenue does so well is upskilling people with what will be needed in the future – and AI is now a big part of that.”
Craig Hartzel, an e-commerce specialist and investor, spoke about how he uses AI to power his businesses, increase profit margins and even create a virtual version of himself. Giving advice to those looking for work, he said: “AI is an opportunity for all those who are thinking of retraining, or are coming out of university. There are so many new jobs and prospects being created.”
Finally, Deborah Gruenberger, a graphic designer and expert in pitch decks and attracting investment, talked about her work journey and how it has been changed by technology at many different times.
She said: “Just like when computers first changed my world of graphic design, we cannot pretend that this new technology is not happening or that it won’t impact us. Every single person in this room has to adapt… we have no choice.”
Work Avenue is the community’s leading employment and business support organisation and will be running a series of events around AI in the coming months. To stay up to date, and learn how Work Avenue can help you, please visit www.theworkavenue.org.uk.