Thursday 21 January 2010

"Jobs Of The Future"

I have to return to the vertical gardener nonsense (number 8 on the list), because I spotted it again in a Saturday Times magazine that I was chucking out yesterday. The one I liked best was this:

13. Avatar manager/devotees/virtual teachers

Intelligent avatars or computer characters could be used to support or even replace teachers in the classroom. The devotee is the human that makes sure the avatar and the student are properly matched.

So an "avatar" is a bit like "a blackboard" or "textbooks" and a "devotee" is a bit like "a teacher"? Or have I missed something?

9 comments:

neil craig said...

No the avatar is a genuine computer teaching programme able to be accessed one-on-one by the student. The beginnings of such things already exist. You can do a degree level course online so you can certainly learn more than the average clasroom teacher knows.

I agree with you about vertical farms since I don't think the world is that short of land. Some of the others like climate change advisor are simple bureaucratic make work.

The interesting thing about avatars replacing teachers & many of the others is that it will require relativelyfew people actually working.

Lola said...

I am definitely losing the will to live again.

Uncle Marvo said...

#11 is a joke, right?

In fact, the whole thing is taxpayerfunded bollocks, isn't it?

Come on, how did you make it so it looks like it's a dot gov dot uk?

Mark Wadsworth said...

NC, let's call 'avatar' the teaching material (paper, electronic, whatever) and the 'devotee' is the personal tutor. However much we automate stuff, people will always find something else to do, it's all good.

L, sorry to hear that.

UM, it's serious. This is what they spend our money on.

Chuckles said...

"The interesting thing about avatars replacing teachers & many of the others is that it will require relatively few people actually working."

How is that any different to the current situation?

For avatar, think Microsoft 'Clippy'.


Would a vertical farmer be similar to an uphill gardener?

John Pickworth said...

Yeah, I hear that some independent minded teachers are telling their students to think for themselves... we can't have that sort of thing going on! So what could be better than having a standard issue, Government approved, teacher guaranteed to tow the line?

Mind you, back in my day, we had things called books.

ScotsToryB said...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aeroponics

It may sound silly, but...

Keep an open mind.

A building with an acre footprint x 20/40/60 floors takes up, er, how much space?

And the use of water is, er, how much compared to...
Using grey water.
Which will be cleansed.
And this is silly?

How?

Land value tax coming into it's own, perhaps?

I am once again confused.


STB.

Mark Wadsworth said...

STB, vertical gardening may or may not be a good idea. But if we leave it to 'the markets' then we will find out, that's that sorted.

Efficient use of land is always a good idea, and if you can grow crops more cheaply this way, then do it.

The fact that LVT encourages efficient use of land, or more precisely, vastly speeds up a process which tends to happen anyway, is a side issue.

Physiocrat said...

Plenty of job opportunities in the porcine aviation industry which could be expanded and developed to reduce global warming, create work, crack down on tax avoidance through the use of the improved surveillance technique knonw as Overhead In-flight Nanoparticular Kinesis and prevent the rise in sea levels.