The AI ethics debate: Confronting the “AI can never be ethical” absolutists
A pragmatic look at absolutist views on AI ethics and why transparency and accountability, not moral panic, should shape content design today.
Making sense of the workplace in an AI-driven world
Adrie van der Luijt helps professionals thrive in the age of AI transformation.
Adrie van der Luijt
Knowledge worker training specialist and founder of Workplace Insights
''I've witnessed technology transform knowledge work for over four decades. What truly matters is how we respond to this fundamental reshaping of professional roles."
For four decades, I’ve witnessed how technology transforms knowledge work from the inside, not as a theorist or consultant, but as someone implementing change on the front lines. When I built one of Holland’s first government digital projects in 1987, years before most people had heard of the internet, I saw firsthand how digital tools would reshape professional identities.
The supposed technology revolution knowledge work has experienced over three decades has largely been a myth. Tools have changed dramatically, but our understanding of how value is created and professional roles are defined has remained rooted in industrial-era thinking.
I’ve spent my career challenging this disconnect, from transforming how executive assistants work by creating DeskDemon (which became the market leader in its field), to establishing content design principles for GOV.UK, to reimagining service delivery for Police.uk. What connects these seemingly different roles is my focus on how people actually create value in organisations, rather than how they’re supposed to create value according to conventional job descriptions.
The four seismic shifts I’ve identified cut across all knowledge professions. They reveal fundamental changes happening beneath the surface of routine technological upgrades and corporate restructures. Understanding these shifts helps you navigate workplace evolution not just by adapting to change, but by positioning yourself at its forefront.
Explore
The four seismic shifts
Knowledge workers across industries are experiencing unprecedented transformation. After four decades observing how technology reshapes professional roles, I’ve identified these critical shifts happening right now.
These shifts aren’t theoretical futures. They’re happening now, reshaping careers daily. My work helps knowledge workers navigate these transformations proactively rather than reactively.
Why Somerset Council’s ditching of FixMyStreet echoes past pitfalls in local government digital
Somerset Council has axed FixMyStreet. But this shift to in-house reporting is a digital misstep that echoes past failures in local government services.
From information processor to insights curator
The exponential growth in available data has transformed knowledge work from simple information processing to sophisticated insight creation. While previous generations manually gathered and organised facts, today’s professionals must extract meaningful patterns from overwhelming information volumes. This shift demands both analytical rigour and creative synthesis – the ability to see connections others miss. Those who thrive in this landscape combine computational thinking with uniquely human capabilities like contextual understanding, intuition and ethical judgement to derive insights that drive organisational value.
From technical specialist to adaptive generalist
While deep technical expertise remains valuable, today’s rapidly evolving workplaces demand knowledge workers who can adapt across domains and contexts. The adaptive generalist combines foundational technical knowledge with broader perspective, ready to pivot as circumstances change. This shift requires developing learning agility alongside specialist capabilities, enabling professionals to navigate uncertainty with confidence. Those who embrace this transition recognise that their value increasingly lies not just in what they know, but in how quickly and effectively they can integrate new knowledge.
These four shifts have emerged from my decades observing how technology transforms organisations; not from management theories or consultant frameworks, but from watching how people actually navigate change on the ground.
I don’t claim to have definitive answers, but these patterns keep surfacing across different industries and roles. I’m sharing them not as rigid conclusions, but as lenses that might help you make sense of your own professional landscape.
Applying the framework
These shifts aren’t merely theoretical constructs. They’re actively reshaping how we work today. Through my ongoing research and conversations with organisations across sectors, I’ve identified several key developments that illustrate how these seismic shifts are playing out in real workplaces.
The insights below explore practical implications for both individuals navigating career transitions and organisations seeking to adapt their structures and processes for the emerging knowledge work landscape.
Listen to the podcast
AI and the great hollowing out: how technology is reshaping knowledge work
Artificial intelligence is transforming knowledge work professions by eliminating mid-level roles while preserving entry-level and senior positions. Discover how this “hollowing out” is reshaping careers in software development, law, accounting, and other fields.
The new developer: AI as a colleague, not a replacement
For developers navigating the shift towards AI coding, the path forward isn’t about competing with AI on coding speed or syntax knowledge. It’s about developing the skills that complement rather than compete with what AI can do.
The learning gap: how AI disruption threatens professional development
The traditional professional development model relied on a progression that now risks disappearing. Without deliberate intervention, we face not just economic disruption for current mid-tier professionals, but potentially an expertise crisis in the coming decades.
The expertise vacuum: when AI outpaces human understanding
The expertise vacuum created by AI poses risks that go far beyond job losses. It threatens to undermine the very foundations of reasoned decision-making within organisations and society more broadly.
Beyond developers: the pattern across knowledge work
The hollowing out we’re witnessing in software development, executive assistance and copywriting isn’t a coincidence. It’s part of a broader pattern reshaping virtually every knowledge work profession, though at different rates and with field-specific nuances.
The final verdict: AI’s revolution of the mid-tier knowledge worker career
We’re witnessing the end of the traditional mid-tier knowledge worker career. It’s an opportunity to redefine professional value in more uniquely human terms.
"Thank you for your outstanding post on trauma-informed content and AI. Just excellent work!"
Kristina Halvorson
Founder of Button Events and Brain Traffic, widely recognised as one of the most important voices in content strategy and UX
How to engage further with these ideas
My monthly newsletter provides practical frameworks and case studies on workplace transformation that you won’t find elsewhere, delivered straight to your inbox.
For those ready for more direct collaboration, I work with forward-thinking teams and leaders through speaking engagements, interactive knowledge worker training workshops and strategic advisory services. Whether you’re reimagining organisational structures, developing approaches to value network influence or building adaptive capabilities, I can help your organisation respond effectively.
Contact me directly to start a conversation about how these ideas might apply to your specific challenges.