How to prepare for AI at work, Me pēhea te takatū mō te atamai hangahanga i te wāhi mahi

We’re combining our human skills with tools powered by artificial intelligence (AI) more often in our work.

While some jobs may have most tasks completely automated by AI in the future, studies show it’s more likely that AI will support our work by boosting productivity across a wide range of tasks.

The impact of AI on the number of job opportunities in New Zealand is still small at this stage. Data shows the number of entry level roles has gone down but it’s not because of AI automation alone.

If you’re looking for work you may want to explore getting work experience in ways like internships or volunteering.

How to get work experience

How internships work

As our jobs and the industries we work in change, being adaptable is important. Knowing your skills and gaining new ones is key.

You could prepare for change by exploring AI tools to build your digital skills – see what’s possible, review the results and work out where to best use them in your work.

You could explore AI tools and use them for different tasks in your personal and work life.

You could:

• try out free versions of tools such as ChatGPT, Copilot, Claude and Google Gemini. Start a chat and see where it takes you
• look up videos and podcasts for ideas on how to use AI tools and opinions on what each tool is best at doing.

Experiment with prompts

Practice writing clear and detailed prompts to get the best results from AI tools.

You could:

• think about what you’re trying to achieve with AI before you start working on a problem. If you do this thinking, you might write clearer instructions (known as prompts) and know when you’ve got good results
• give the same instructions to different AI tools and see what results you get
• try different prompt styles. See how a more detailed prompt may give you better results than something vague or general
• practice prompting with the microphone as well as typing
• get AI to help with some real problems in your work and personal life. Try asking it for different types of results like pros and cons, a top 5 list or recommendations based on reliable research.

Learn how to judge quality

Look at the results and learn to question the quality of the information.

You could:

• think critically about what AI tells you. Check statistics with another AI tool or trusted website
• ask AI how sure it is that this information is correct or ask where it got the information.

Transferable skills are important because they can be used across many jobs, industries and technologies.

You can build on your skills through work, hobbies, volunteering and life experience.

Having transferable skills could help you adapt to new roles within your workplace or move into work in a different industry.

The best skills to develop

Currently, AI tools can make mistakes, miss context or make things up, so human oversight is needed.

As AI becomes more common in work, these skills can help you use it effectively:

• Critical thinking and judgement – thinking carefully about information, asking questions and making good decisions.
• Problem solving – using thinking and information to understand the task, ask questions and decide what works best.
• Ethical decision-making – choosing what to do based on what is fair, honest and respectful of others.
• Cultural understanding – respecting and valuing different backgrounds, beliefs and ways of doing things.
• Self-awareness – knowing your strengths, values and goals.
• Leadership – making decisions, taking responsibility and clearly communicating an agreed purpose.

Humans also bring skills that are valuable in many workplaces, including:

• Relationship-building – building and maintaining positive connections with others.
• Communication and active listening –carefully listening to others to understand and respond properly
• Empathy and emotional intelligence – understanding how others feel and responding appropriately.
• Curiosity and willingness to learn – being open to new ideas and wanting to learn and improve.
• Creativity – thinking of new ideas and different ways of doing things.
• Adaptability – adjusting to change and trying new approaches when needed.
• Hands-on and practical skills – using practical knowledge and skills to complete tasks and solve problems.

You could think about what unique skills you have and how you’re different from AI, or what skills you bring when working with AI tools.

Understanding these skills can help you make career decisions, talk about your skills in interviews and highlight them in your CV.

Know your skills

How to write a CV

Skills employers are looking for