Panel Discussion
Navigating the Robo-Revolution: AI and the Future of Career Guidance
Date Thursday, Nov 23 Time –
AI and the more recent public release of ChatGPT are considered to be major game-changers in the way that digital technology will be used in the future. Many aspects of our personal and professional lives will be impacted and this also presents opportunities for transforming professional career guidance services, with a need to discuss what future guidance and counselling services will look like and how they might benefit from the effective use of AI and large language models (LLMs).
A panel of experts will explore the opportunities and risks of AI being applied in a career development context and will consider some of the following questions:
- How important is it to build guardrails in career support chatbots and what would this require?
- What steps need to be taken to build confidence and competence among career managers, leaders and practitioners?
- How can we make effective use of AI and Large Language Models in career guidance whilst identifying possible danger points?
- How can AI be used to improve or extend career guidance systems and practices?
- What are the challenges and limitations using AI technology in career guidance?
- Will AI change the way that career education and guidance is delivered in school and wider settings?
Speakers will include:
- Alison Burke, Policy Analyst, OECD
- Deirdre Hughes, International Career Development Specialist
- Eirik Øvernes, Head of Department Department of Career Services, Norwegian Directorate for Higher Education and Skills
- Chris Percy, Visiting Research Fellow, University of Derby
- Moderator: Paul Guest, Education, Training & Project Management Expert-Consultant
Attendees will gain a better understanding of the risks and opportunities of AI in career guidance and will reflect on the steps needed to build confidence and competence among career guidance professionals.
Alison Burke
Policy Analyst, OECD, France
Alison Burke is an Analyst at the OECD Directorate for Education and Skills. She is currently working in the Career Readiness team that focuses on how secondary schools can best prepare young people for their working lives. As part of her work, she looks after the OECD Observatory on Digital technologies in Career guidance for Youth (ODiCY); an open-access repository on the use of digital technologies in career education and guidance by primary and secondary schools.
Prior to joining the OECD, she was a secondary school teacher in Australia teaching Physics and Science. Alison has a Masters degree in Comparative and International Education from Oxford.
Eirik Øvernes
Head of Department, Deapartment of Career Services, Norwegian Directorate for Higher Education and Skills, Norway
Eirik Øvernes has his background in pedagogy with an early focus on online teaching.
For several years he was a project manager at the Norwegian Centre for Telemedicine and led national and international projects. The projects facilitated interaction and learning among healthcare personnel over a distance using various forms of technology. He has led large projects that established national digital further education offers for large numbers of teachers.
Today he leads the national digital career guidance service, Karriereveiledning.no. The service is free and anonymous and offers career guidance via chat and telephone, in addition to self-help tools on the website.
Deirdre Hughes
International Career Development Specialist, dmh associates, CareerChat (UK) Ltd & Warwick University IER, United Kingdom
Deirdre Hughes specialises in careers, employment and skills policies, research and practice at an international, national and regional level. Uppermost in her mind is the notion that everyone has untapped talents and skills that can potentially be harnessed to good effect. She is the Founding Director of CareerChat (UK) Ltd – a pioneering technology start-up company in Exeter (England) focused on career exploration and the effective use of artificial intelligence (AI) and large language models (LLMs). Deirdre is an Associate Professor at the University of Warwick, Institute for Employment Research (IER) and Director of dmh associates – an independent research and consultancy company.
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Chris Percy
visiting research fellow, UNIVERSITY OF DERBY, United Kingdom
Chris Percy PhD is a data scientist working primarily on career trajectories, explainable AI, and economic development, with recent publications for the OECD and the ILO. Clients have included the World Bank, King’s College London, and government organisations in eight nations. His research has featured in the Journal of AI Communications, AAAI, NeurIPS, and the European Conference on Artificial Intelligence (ECAI). Chris is the co-founder of an award-winning chatbot, CareersChat, which provides general careers advice and personalised labour market intelligence. Chris’s current R&D work includes the potential for large language model AI to improve careers support.
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Moderator
Paul Guest
Consultant (education-training-project management), Expert-Moderator-Consultant, United Kingdom
Paul has worked in national and European developments in education and training for more than 30 years. Having played a fundamental role in establishing UK Euroguidance, Paul spent five years working in Brussels, helping to deliver the European Commission’s higher education and vocational training programmes. Paul continues to provide research and development services to a broad range of clients, including Scottish Government and the European Commission and has a confirmed interest in learning and skills recognition. Paul regularly delivers input and moderation relating to education, training, guidance and skills recognition, and works closely with Erasmus+ national agency and Euroguidance networks.