Dr. William “Will” Zemp from Southern New Hampshire University spoke March 22, about future problems that today’s learners will face and how post-secondary institutions can prepare them.
The presentation, billed as the World of Work 2030, took place in the Nawapon room in the C-Building, in front of Algonquin staff and students.
“Those things that are uniquely human are going to rise in value,” said Zemp. “No one wants to be cared for by an AI.” Zemp is the executive vice president and chief strategy and innovation officer for Southern New Hampshire University.
He continued his presentation by giving examples of the unique human ability to fail. One of these examples was when a team of Call of Duty players were presented with a data collection about an unsolved heart condition by the Institute of Health. The doctors from the health institute took 15 months analyzing the data from this problem. The conditions that took doctors months to identify was solved in weeks by the gamers.
Zemp referred to gamers as professional failers, due to their ability to fail and learn from their mistakes with efficiency.
“You need a gamer on the team,” said Zemp. “You need to be able to fail, and have the orientation to fail fast so you can make better decisions with the resources you have.”
Algonquin President Cheryl Jensen was also present and talked about the board meeting that was scheduled the next day. Dr. Zemp’s presentation was also on the meeting’s schedule.
“We are looking to ask more questions,” said Jensen. “Questions like, ‘How can we use this information to go further at Algonquin College?'”
Algonquin staff were not the only attendees on hand. Aaron Lalonde, a student of the heating, refrigeration and air conditioning program also participated with his class. His professor wanted the students to attend the presentation in order to have an idea about the future of their industry.
“We are focusing on the future of our industry,” said Lalonde. “We figured that this presentation would be an excellent way for us to learn about what’s to come.”