How worried should we be about AI taking our jobs? Joni Peddie, author of From Can’t to Can Do: Nine Human Capabilities That AI Can’t Replicate, has some answers.
“The reason I wrote my book is because AI is already automating routine work in South Africa — from invoice processing in finance, to legal research tools like Lexis+ AI.... But this doesn’t mean the end of human work. It actually makes our human capabilities even more important.”
Peddie advises:
- Rather than worrying about AI taking our jobs, focus on the irreplaceable human;
- Machines cannot replicate mental clarity, making good decisions in uncertainty; emotional agility, building trust and connection; and physical nexus, sustaining energy and resilience;
- History shows us that every major technological leap, the internet, for example, created new opportunities and even new sectors;
- AI can mirror the words of empathy, but not the weight of them; humans bring lived experience — tone, presence and genuine care;
- Jobs that demand clarity of judgment, emotional agility, energy and stress resilience, and ethical responsibility will survive and become even more valuable.
