Here’s what to look for in a college if you want to survive the incoming robot revolution

Asking an 18-year-old “What do you want to do?” can be devastating, mostly because of the ever-increasing development of artificial intelligence that eliminates millions of jobs.

A better question would be “what skills can higher education teach you to become agile in an automation economy?”, according to CBS. However, this calls for throwing out any old ideas about attending the “best” college or getting the “right” major.

Before picking a college, each parent and student should take some time to read the White House‘s report on Artificial Intelligence, Automation and Economy. The report paints a dark picture, noting that around 47% of all jobs in the next decade “are threatened by automation and are highly concentrated among lower-paid, lower-skilled, and less-educated workers. This means that automation will continue to put downward pressure on demand for this group, putting downward pressure on wages and upward pressure on inequality.”

This way, a college degree might become the equivalent of a high school diploma. Fast food, baristas, truck driving, low-end human service occupations – these are likely to become automated. If you don’t want to become a victim of the robot apocalypse, you should ask some questions regarding how the institutions are going to prepare you for the automated workplace.

Regarding you skill sets, it would be ideal to have a broad palette rather than a narrow one, that focuses on one thing only. Edward Hess and Katherine Ludwig, authors of “Humility Is the New Smart: Rethinking Human Excellence in the Smart Machine Age” said:

“Technology will transform the world of work. Not everyone will find meaningful work. Few people will have a lifelong job with one employer. All of that means students need to learn the skills necessary to continually learn and adapt and how to go forward in an unstructured work world in order to take care of themselves and their families.”

They also advise parents to look for schools that offer multidisciplinary, challenging, experiential, small, diverse, team-learning opportunities:

“The more the better. The key is putting students into challenging learning situations where they are stretching themselves – where they learn how to learn from failures and how to bounce back and try again.

“Education is no longer about learning content. Education is all about developing one’s ability to effectively learn, unlearn and relearn, and the ability to collaborate and work with people with backgrounds and training different than you.”

You need to develop skills that allow you to cross boundaries and disciplines – from coding to writing and speaking in public.

“Look for schools that are doing the hard work of developing lifelong learners,” said the authors. “That is what the future will require.”