{"id":113020,"date":"2025-08-15T06:58:48","date_gmt":"2025-08-15T04:58:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/premium-speakers.com\/?p=113020"},"modified":"2025-08-15T06:58:50","modified_gmt":"2025-08-15T04:58:50","slug":"steffi-burkhart-ideas-and-theories-on-the-development-of-ai","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/premium-speakers.com\/en\/magazin\/steffi-burkhart-ideas-and-theories-on-the-development-of-ai\/","title":{"rendered":"Steffi Burkhart \u2013 Ideas and theories on the development of AI"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Guest Article by Dr. Steffi Burkhart<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Impulses and theses on the developments of Generative AI and its impact on our aging society and the millions-gap in missing workers, new entry models for graduates, large-scale further training, and a culture that preserves knowledge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Technology + Talent + new Thinking (3-T Strategy)<\/strong> \u2013 only those who combine all three \u201cT\u2019s\u201d will be among the winners of the transformation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cThe demographic gap is real and unavoidable. Generative AI is one of the most powerful levers to reduce it. The winners of this transformation will be those organizations and countries that bring together technology and talent \u2013 and anchor both in a culture that fosters innovation, learning, and responsibility.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

1. AI developments and the aging of our society<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In Germany, we are experiencing a massive and foreseeable labor shortage while generative artificial intelligence is developing at a rapid pace. By the mid-2030s, the large baby boomer generation will retire. The result: around 6 million fewer workers<\/strong> \u2013 and too few young people entering the labor market. Even with optimistic immigration, the gaps will not be completely closed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Without countermeasures, the shortage of personnel threatens to become the largest brake on growth. People will become the raw material of the future. In addition to real-time information and data, human capital will become the decisive production factor and innovation driver. While in the past, growth was determined by the availability of capital, technology, and raw materials, in the future, it will be the ability to attract enough qualified people, retain them, and increase their productivity. \u2192 This is precisely where generative AI can become a decisive lever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Accenture, for example, has measured annual efficiency gains of 8 percent in best-practice companies, cumulatively up to 30 percent \u2013 with consistent integration into processes and business models. With AI diffusion across all levels of a company, I expect completely different numbers. The potential and scope of AI developments in efficiency gains and innovative power are not yet fully tangible \u2013 or understandable \u2013 for any of us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Age structure of the workforce<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Germany is the second-oldest country in the world. The median age is well over 40 and rising. Fewer people of working age mean that contributions to growth must come more from productivity increases and innovation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The IMF and OECD estimate that aging societies without technological leaps can lose 0.5\u20131 percentage points of economic growth per year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From a behavioral economics perspective, the median age of a society \u2013 and also in leadership circles and committees (politics, business, administration) \u2013 influences decision-making, risk appetite, and innovation dynamics. Risk aversion increases (Prospect Theory, Kahneman & Tversky), the so-called status quo bias is reinforced, leading to slower innovation diffusion and changing preference structures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Such effects can be mitigated through deliberate design of decision-making environments, intergenerational collaboration, and targeted incentive systems \u2013 which, in my observation, is unfortunately applied far too little in practice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the same time, there is a need for the systematic development of a talent pool at all levels of an organization. Investments in intellectual capital are more central than ever! Internal qualification and further training measures are one way to respond to current developments. For years, I have considered a continuing education obligation necessary in view of technological developments. The EU AI Act now introduces in Article 4 an obligation to ensure AI literacy for companies and workforces. It is \u2013 and will be \u2013 grossly negligent if companies do not continuously and strategically prepare their workforces for the co-play between human intelligence and artificial intelligence<\/strong>. This should by now have reached all decision-making circles. The urgency for this must be created from the very top.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beyond internal measures, it is also important to attract talent from outside \u2013 something that is becoming increasingly difficult as our society ages. On top of that, from 2030 onwards, all industrialized nations will be in the same boat: companies will no longer compete for staff only within the same industry, regionally or nationally, but worldwide!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This makes the current discussion all the more puzzling, as the first companies are cutting entry-level jobs due to new AI capabilities. Handelsblatt<\/em> wrote in August 2025: \u201cAI displaces entry-level workers (\u2026) The number of job offers for young professionals reaches a low point.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The hidden danger: Know-how loss<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The IESE Business School warns of a previously little-discussed side effect: implicit know-how loss. In traditional structures, entry-level employees learned \u201con the side\u201d from experienced colleagues \u2013 through observation, joint projects, and informal exchange. If entry-level positions are greatly reduced, this knowledge transfer disappears. Without targeted onboarding programs and mentoring, there is a long-term risk of a decline in competence<\/strong>, reducing productivity and innovative capacity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yuval Harari emphasizes in his lectures that technological efficiency gains without cultural knowledge transfer can lead to a long-term erosion of competence \u2013 a silent decline in skills that neither machines nor algorithms can fully replace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rethinking entry-level jobs instead of abolishing them<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cutting them is fatal in view of the demographic trend and its impact on the labor market. If companies in this phase focus solely on cost reduction, entire entry-level career stages may disappear. By 2035, an estimated 75% of Germany\u2019s workforce will consist of Generations Y, Z, and Alpha. If companies stop investing in young entrants, no pipeline can be built. That\u2019s why I advocate for a paradigm shift: instead of eliminating entry-level positions, companies should redesign tasks for newcomers \u2013 making them more interesting, challenging, and creative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Statements from Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman reinforce this view. His book The Coming Wave<\/em> (2023) is well worth reading.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some companies are showing how radically entry roles can change: Shopify, for example, pursues an AI-first policy \u2013 hiring new staff only if it\u2019s clear that AI cannot take over the task.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Skillset shift<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Deloitte survey confirms the gap: two-thirds of executives consider entry-level employees insufficiently prepared. Many classic learning areas \u2013 research, data preparation, presentation \u2013 are now handled by AI. Nearly 75% of companies are therefore calling for new competency development models.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This aligns somewhat with my provocatively stated opinion:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The pace of change will be so rapid that schools, training programs, and universities will no longer be able to keep up with adapting their curricula to these technologically driven changes. That\u2019s why my key point today is that it will take an extraordinary effort from all companies to upskill and reskill both employees and entry-level hires \u2013 and to find new tasks and even new jobs for them within the organization. Otherwise, hundreds of millions of people worldwide will end up unemployed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the past, it was the job of schools, colleges, and universities to develop people. Now, it is the NEW AGENDA<\/strong> of companies to do this to a much deeper extent than ever before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cAI Literacy and Human Literacy \u2013 the smart combination of Artificial Intelligence and Human Intelligence will determine success!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

In a future dominated by AI, skills and application competence will become more important than traditional academic degrees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gen Z and Alpha \u2013 Key generations for AI innovations<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Generations Y, Z, and Alpha are quantitatively in the minority, but qualitatively very important, because they will somehow have to fill the millions-gap when the boomer generation leaves the labor market. They will be strong drivers for AI implementation and application in companies \u2013 and will thus sustainably change the way we work. And they will have to solve the pressing global, economic, and environmental problems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Humanity will not achieve the 1.5-degree climate target. Who will solve the problem? We have high national debts in many countries, the generational contract no longer works, our public education systems do not adequately prepare young people for the challenges of the 21st century, we are heading towards a mental health crisis \u2013 especially among young generations \u2013 and we are piling problem upon problem that the younger generations will have to solve. It will no longer be the baby boomers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the past, we believed politics would solve such problems; now, in many industrialized nations \u2013 Canada, the UK, the USA \u2013 we face crises of trust in politics and politicians, who are currently dividing societies into left and right. We are witnessing what is happening in the USA right now, and it is likely to become even more dramatic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

AI can help<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unlike the purely platform economy, technology, and digitization, AI can make a decisive difference. As Yuval Harari points out, the human species is not as clever as we like to believe. That\u2019s why the co-play between human intelligence and artificial intelligence<\/strong> is so important. Only in this way can we achieve globally relevant goals that we cannot reach with human intelligence alone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I share the statement of Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI:<\/p>\n\n\n\n