Computers now fly planes better than a human. We still have people who assist the computer to take off and land, but apart from that, it’s the computer flying the plane … and eventually it will be all done by computers.

People can’t beat computers at chess any more. Driverless cars are already safer than regular cars.

A friend of mine was horrified when their doctor Googled their symptoms in front of them. I love it … I reckon most medical diagnostics could be done better by a computer than by a doctor.

Think about your job … what part of it can’t be done better by a computer in five years time, or cheaper and just as well by someone overseas. If the answer is no part, you’re in trouble. If there is a part of the job, then that’s what you better focus on getting good at.

Here are the three things that are safe:

Art. Whatever you create (ideas, software, design etc) isn’t going to be digitised.
Teaching. Be it through standing in front of a classroom or a lecture hall, through coaching or speaking, it will still be in demand (and while multi-media content delivery and flipped classrooms are revolutionising education, face-to-face teachers are still integral).
Influencing. Getting people to behave differently, think differently, buy differently will always be of value.

(By the way, these three things were influenced by Matt Church's message, market, method model - thanks Matt).

So identify the part of your job that is creating art, teaching or influencing, and focus on that. And work on making that a bigger and bigger part of what you do.

Love to hear your thoughts – how safe are your skills? You can leave them below.