In a Christian Science Monitor article (March 2005), futurist Richard Samson opined that the great skills void of the future won't be math or manual dexterity, which are things technology can do. Humans will need to brush up on those skills that are uniquely human, such as ethical judgment, intuition, responsibility, creativity, and compassion. Witness past trends: In the nineteenth century, the percentage of Americans in agriculture shrank from 40 percent to 2, followed by a similar shrinkage in manufacturing, thanks largely to technology. Today, most employees work in service-sector jobs that can't be automated. And what with all the corporate scandals riddling the media, the idea of making ethical judgment a job requirement doesn't sound too crazy.

Daniel H. Pink outlines another way to look at future skills in his book A Whole New Mind (Riverhead Books). Forget assemblers and number crunchers. Again, these are jobs that machines can do. Pink says the future lies with “creators and empathizers, pattern recognizers, and meaning makers.” What are the aptitudes needed for the jobs of the future?