Machines will continue to displace humans in jobs that do not require significant human interaction. That’s why the modern worker better bone up on his or her interpersonal skills, said Geoff Colvin, author of ‘Humans are Underrated’. ‘I say humans are underrated because our most essentially and deeply human traits, our ability to empathize and so forth, that’s going to be the most valuable thing we can bring to work,’ said Colvin. Colvin, who is Fortune’s Senior Editor-at-Large, added that empathy does not simply mean feeling someone else’s pain. In his view, it means discerning what a person is thinking or feeling and then responding in the appropriate way. ‘That’s the basis of building a better customer experience,’ said Colvin. ‘Collaborating with others, solving problems, building relationships. It all starts with empathy.’ While Colvin views human interaction as a powerful force in an increasingly automated world, he said social media networks like LinkedIn and Facebook are actually weakening our ability to connect to one another, even though they boast millions of members. Colvin said that the more time people spend on their devices texting each other, the more they lose the ability to interact on a face-to-face basis.
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