Originally found at SHRM

I recently had a conversation with Kevin Snider, chancellor at Penn State University, New Kensington, that cut to the heart of what’s at stake as artificial intelligence reshapes professional development. For 15 years, Snider has orchestrated something remarkable in Pennsylvania’s rust belt: a living laboratory where municipalities, school districts, and industry work as one through initiatives such as WEDIG (Westmoreland Economic Development Initiative for Growth)—a regional collaboration hub for workforce development—and the Digital Foundry, a state-of-the-art training center preparing workers for Industry 4.0 technologies.

His latest work on human condition consciousness examines how professional identity and expertise develop through workplace experiences. The framework suggests that professionals aren’t shaped only by what they learn but also by the daily interactions, challenges, and problem-solving experiences they encounter. This tackles an essential truth: As technology transforms how we work, it also transforms who we become as professionals. When AI systems take over traditional entry-level tasks, we’re not just changing job descriptions—we’re fundamentally altering the developmental journey that shapes professional judgment, intuition, and identity.

... New research from the Academy of Management Discoveries would challenge us to view these developments—like the career ladder break—not as inevitable outcomes but as consequences shaped by competing narratives. Analyzing 485 media articles and surveying 570 experts across technology, journalism, labor markets, and policy, the research reveals seven distinct frameworks for understanding the future of work. These include, for example, dataism (advocating a fully data-driven society where decisions are primarily guided by data analysis) and augmentation (advocating a future where technology enhances rather than replaces human capabilities), and they extend to more critical perspectives such as exterminism (warning of technological control concentrated among elites). Other frameworks include human-centered design, sustainable development, digital commons, and hybrid intelligence, each offering different visions for balancing human and AI capabilities.

Continue reading the original article at SHRM.

Read the original research in Academy of Management Discoveries.

Read the Academy of Management Insights summary.

Learn more about the AOM Scholars and explore their work:

• Nicky Dries, KU Leuven and BI Norwegian Business School
• Philip Rogiers, Universitat Ramon Llull, Esade