Silver anniversary in international VET cooperation

Solidarity and resilience in times of AI

How can artificial and human intelligence complement each other in the sense of "symbiotic intelligence"? How does technology influence human capabilities? In a world that has grown to appear more politically fragmented than at the beginning of the century, where states are once again focussing on their vested interests more strongly, how can solidarity be reimagined? 

Representatives of the Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (BIBB) and the South Korean Korean Research Institute for Vocational Education and Training (KRIVET) discussed these questions together with other personalities from business, research and politics on 5-6 November at this year's GHR Forum in South Korea.

In a panel discussion, Dr Michael Tiemann (Head of the "Qualifications, Occupational Integration and Employment" division at BIBB) discussed what role human characteristics and skills will play in a world of work permeated by increasingly "intelligent" technologies.

"We will only solve the complex problems and polycrises of our times through more discourse and interaction, which can contribute to a solidarity-based division of labour with a view to socio-ecological transformation," said Dr Michael Tiemann (BIBB).

The participants in the discussion panel agreed that generative AI is a technology that we should learn to understand before we use it – and that it also confronts us once more with the ethical question of what goals we use technologies for and what responsibilities this entails.

The following day, Dr Michael Tiemann (BIBB) presented the results of the upcoming BIBB (Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training) and BAuA (Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health) employee survey with regard to the topic of resilience. Spoiler alert: the introduction of new technologies causes employees less concern than one might think. On the contrary, this introduction is usually supported by employees, often by those who are open to technology outside of their everyday working lives. Rather than technology, it is the general future prospects of their respective industries that influence employees when it comes to how they view the future.

The presentation was framed by an optimistic welcome address by German Ambassador Georg Wilfried Schmidt, with a view to the future of work and younger generations:

"[Younger generations] are seeking quality, purpose, and a sustainable balance. This is not a crisis of motivation - it is a healthy, welcomed demand for a better working life."

To mark the anniversary, BIBB expert Tiemann had something special in store: to honour the 25 years of cooperation between BIBB and KRIVET, he presented KRIVET President Dr Hye-Won Ko with a letter written by BIBB Research Director Prof. Dr Hubert Ertl. In it, Prof. Dr. Hubert Ertl emphasises the importance of the cooperation between the two institutions:

"Our cooperation agreements have always kept pace with the times: the world has changed dramatically since 2000 – our cooperation takes this into account and is now increasingly taking place in multilateral initiatives with UNESCO-UNEVOC and the European Union. In addition, we are finally reactivating the exchange of research staff and look forward to welcoming the first Korean visiting researcher to BIBB since the end of the pandemic in the new year."

The GHR Forum is an annual high-profile conference that brings together people from politics, research and science to discuss current global trends and challenges in human resources and talent development. Vocational education and training also plays a central role in this.

The forum was organised by the Korean Daily, the South Korean Ministry of Education and the BIBB partner institution KRIVET, which is renowned for its excellent VET research. BIBB is a regular guest at the forum and gives presentations on challenges and solutions in the German VET system.