Billionaire investor David Rubenstein, co-founder of private equity giant Carlyle Group Inc (NASDAQ:CG), said young people should still start with three skills, reading, speaking and writing, even as AI reshapes how people work.
Rubenstein, 77, spoke about careers as he prepares to release his book, “Inside the Owner’s Box: Conversations on Power and Leadership in Sports,” this week, reported Business Insider on Sunday.
Skills That Last
Rubenstein acknowledged that more people are relying on AI chatbots to read and write, but said the ability to tell good writing from bad will remain important, he told BI.
He added that the basic skills behind success over thousands of years are “probably not going to go away,” according to the report.
He also urged young people to find work they enjoy, saying “Nobody ever won a Nobel Prize hating what they do.”
AI and the Workforce
Anthony Salcito, senior vice president and president of Enterprise at Coursera Inc (NYSE:COUR), said AI is “reducing the need for some skills” while making others more important. He pointed to growing demand for critical thinking, leadership and communication.
Former Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Business Division President Jeff Raikes warned in a Fortune post that “AI literacy without critical thinking is not a workforce strategy,” and that companies letting AI absorb entry-level work could create a “talent debt.”
Steve Hanke, professor of applied economics at Johns Hopkins University, said AI “might just end up being a net job creator” over the next five to 10 years.
Not Retiring Soon
Rubenstein said he and many friends work as hard in their mid-70s as they did 10 or 20 years earlier because “we don’t want to get off the stage,” according to the report.
He said he doesn’t know what he would do if he retired and worries about a greater risk of dropping dead afterward. “So I’m not retiring anytime soon,” he said.
Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
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