Artificial Intelligence (AI) and related technologies are spreading rapidly, impacting the labour market and generating major transformations in the workforce. Along with these changes come ethical and social issues that will need to be tackled, sooner or later. According to a recent report released by the World Economic Forum on The Future of Jobs, technological breakthroughs such as high-speed mobile internet, machine learning, augmented and virtual reality, big-data analytics, and cloud technology will be spearheading companies\u2019 adoption of new technologies between 2018 and 2022.\u00a0 Furthermore,\u00a0according to the same report, \u201cin purely quantitative terms, 75 million current job roles may be displaced by the shift in the division of labour between humans, machines and algorithms, while 133 million new job roles may emerge at the same time.\u201d<\/p>\n
The education sector is mobilizing to identify the many challenges and opportunities that the proliferation of AI presents. Dawson College is well-positioned to make substantive contributions to this enterprise and to fill an important role in the burgeoning AI ecosystem. Regardless of program of study, all of our students will graduate into a rapidly evolving economy driven by\u00a0powerful, pervasive and somewhat nebulous technologies\u00a0The pace and scale of change makes the exact future that awaits them is\u00a0difficult to predict.<\/p>\n
However, as a community and through a variety of approaches and a wide range of initiatives, Dawson College aims to revolutionize college education and better prepare the leaders of tomorrow. We will\u00a0not delegate this responsibility to undergraduate or graduate studies. Groundbreaking technologies offer\u00a0great rewards to those who learn to master them, but equally dire consequences to those swept along in the\u00a0tide of change without a basic understanding of the landscape. Dawson College is in a unique position to\u00a0influence how the CEGEP network ultimately decides to address this turning point in economic history.<\/p>\n