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title: AI future vs My future
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“What will customer service look like in the future?” is not particularly interesting until you can answer “how will I pay my bills?”

|   The Times They Are A-Changin’ In a recent newsletter I talked about the understandable fear of AI and its impact on our industry and individual jobs. Large scale changes to industries feel inevitable in retrospect—of course the internet changed how we work and live. Looking back from a decent distance makes the process seem utterly predictable and hides the messy, confusing, transitional period. It’s like reading about the 1918 pandemic compared to living through one in real time. When you know the outcome and you aren’t emotionally attached to anyone involved, it doesn’t hit in the same way. We don’t get to live in the future, we’re perpetually in the present, with all its imperfect information and uncertain outcomes. The people who are most bullish and excited about an AI-driven future are the ones who are most insulated from the economic effect (or who at least believe themselves to be.) For everyone else, especially those most at risk of seeing their roles changed, replaced, or entirely removed, a little anxiety is a reasonable response. What we cannot do is to allow that anxiety to paralyze us. Friend, you may not be the person who decides how AI will be used in your company. Maybe your immediate boss isn’t either.  That doesn’t mean you are powerless in this moment. Change is coming, but the shape and scope of change is not yet fixed. In particular your specific role in that change, friend, can still be molded, expanded, nudged one way or another.  The first step in taking some control over your own working future is to know yourself better. What are you good at, what matters to you, what might you need to learn? I’ve put together a Google Doc of career questions you can answer for yourself.  Make a copy and spend some time thinking about what you want and where your skills lie. I did something like this before changing jobs (and careers), and I did it again during my Help Scout sabbatical. The answers are important, but the process of figuring them out is more so. Reminding yourself of your strengths, your interests, and of the things you’d rather avoid helps you develop a lens through which you can view the world as it changes. You’ll be better at spotting your next opportunity to grow, and you will be better positioned to advocate for yourself.  Nobody can tell you for sure where this is all heading, so you might as well be ready to take charge of your own path.   Mat Patterson Help Scout Career Crafting Questions for Support Pros “What will customer service look like in the future?” is not particularly interesting until you can answer “how will I pay my bills?” These questions will help you figure it out.    And you may ask yourself, “How do I work this?”   Was this email forwarded to you? Subscribe to have The Supportive Weekly delivered right to your inbox.   Subscribe now   177 Huntington Ave., Ste 1703 PMB 78505  •  Boston, MA 02115 view in your web browser  \|  unsubscribe Made by hand in over 125 cities around the world. © 2023 Help Scout View in browser |
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