Technology Unpicked: Exploring AI and the Future of Work

Technology is reshaping the world of work at a pace and scale we have never seen before. For schools, for families, and for our Student Futures programme, this raises profound questions:

How do we prepare young people not just for their first job, but for a landscape that is constantly evolving?

Against this backdrop, our Fourth Form students stepped away from their usual timetable on 21 April for a “Technology Unpicked” drop-down day exploring how artificial intelligence is transforming the future they will enter.

The morning brought together a series of keynote talks and workshops designed not to alarm, but to equip and inspire. The message was clear: while AI presents real challenges, it also opens up extraordinary opportunities for those ready to engage with it thoughtfully and creatively.

Visiting Speaker, Tarik O'Regan

We were delighted to welcome Old Whitgiftian composer Tarik O’Regan as our opening speaker, joining us in person while living and working in San Francisco, at the heart of the global AI revolution. Drawing on his experience in the creative industries, Tarik talked about how AI is already embedded in his compositional process. Tools that once required full orchestras can now generate and develop ideas instantly, dramatically accelerating the early stages of artistic creation.

Yet his message was one of distinction, not replacement. AI, he argued, is highly effective at producing technically polished, crowd-pleasing outputs, but it tends towards the generic. What it cannot replicate is genuine originality, interpretation and emotional depth. In fact, as AI-generated content becomes more widespread, Tarik suggested there may be a growing appetite for authentic, human creativity - work that surprises and challenges rather than simply satisfies. The implication for students was powerful: creativity, critical thinking and a strong intellectual foundation - skills often developed through the humanities - will remain indispensable.

Visiting Speaker, Kelvin Zhang

Our second speaker, Old Whitgiftian Kelvin Zhang, brought students to the cutting edge of AI development. Having worked at Google DeepMind and soon joining 10 Downing Street as an AI Innovation Fellow, Kelvin offered a candid and thought-provoking insight into both the potential and the ethical complexity of the field. He spoke about the sheer pace of change and the need to remain adaptable, alongside difficult questions surrounding data, accountability and job displacement. AI systems, he explained, are already capable of replacing tasks that once required thousands of people, raising real concerns about employment and responsibility.

Running alongside these challenges, however, was a strong message of opportunity. Reflecting on his own journey, Kelvin emphasised the importance of initiative and real-world experience for students navigating an increasingly AI-mediated job market: “While at school, try to build independent, non-trivial projects related to the role -employers are not just looking for 4A*/As at A-Level,” he said. In a landscape where applications can easily be filtered or lost, he highlighted the value of standing out through genuine curiosity, practical engagement and a clear sense of direction.

At the same time, he underlined the continued importance of technical understanding. While AI can now generate code and automate complex tasks, those who understand how these systems work - and crucially, how they can fail- will be best placed to use them responsibly and effectively. “Furthermore, jobs in AI are not just for those pursuing STEM pathways: for those pursuing careers in social sciences and humanities, there are highly impactful roles in areas including policy and sustainability”. For Kelvin, the future will belong not simply to those who use AI, but to those who can question it, refine it, and apply it with judgement.

Visiting Speaker, Brian Wagner

Our final speaker, parent Brian Wagner, delivered a highly interactive and memorable session that brought AI to life in real time. Rather than simply explaining what AI can do, he handed control to the students, inviting them to collaboratively live-code a version of Space Invaders. Students suggested prompts, Brian inputted them, and together they watched the game evolve on screen. The session unfolded as a dynamic back-and-forth, with Brian pausing throughout to share insights and respond to student questions.

This approach made visible both the power and the limitations of AI. Students saw first-hand how the quality of the output depended on the precision and creativity of their prompts. He also discussed how different AI models could produce inconsistent or contradictory responses, and the dangers of “hallucinations” and inaccuracies. The lesson was clear: AI can be powerful, but it is not infallible, and always requires human judgement.

Crucially, the session also highlighted something often overlooked in discussions of AI: its real and significant cost. As Brian worked, students could see the “tokens” being used to generate each response, and the associated financial cost accruing in real time. This made tangible the economics underpinning AI use, and led to a striking insight: while AI can automate many tasks, it is not always the cheaper option. In some cases, companies are beginning to find it more cost-effective to re-employ human workers in junior white-collar roles than to rely entirely on AI systems.

Brian also shared how he is already deploying AI within his own work, using multiple AI “agents” to manage different workstreams and even respond to emails on his behalf. Combined with the live coding exercise, this offered students a vivid picture not just of what AI can do, but of how it is already reshaping day-to-day professional practice.

Student questions reflected a thoughtful engagement with the issues, particularly around energy use and environmental impact, as well as the broader societal implications of increasingly powerful technologies.

Across the morning, a consistent theme emerged: AI is not simply replacing human work, but reshaping it. As a school, this sits at the heart of our ongoing work in Student Futures and Digital Learning, as we seek to prepare students for a future that will demand both technical fluency and deeply human skills. Creativity, critical thinking, adaptability and ethical awareness will only grow in importance as AI becomes more embedded in everyday life. For our students, the challenge - and the opportunity - is not simply to keep up with these changes, but to engage with them actively and thoughtfully as they begin to shape their own futures.