Every week, approximately 50 million professionals turn to LinkedIn in pursuit of their next job or career goal. But millions more come to the social platform to connect with others, exchange ideas, and expand their horizons—and now, LinkedIn is looking to leverage the power of artificial intelligence to help amplify their voices.
Not long ago, the company unveiled ‘collaborative articles’, a feature that encourages users to serve up their unique perspectives and knowledge on a wide range of topics. Through machine learning-based algorithms, the platform identifies users who possess the relevance and authority to offer insights. Nearly 20 industries are covered, ranging from real estate to marketing to IT services. These contributions, once gathered, are combined with text generated by editorial teams to produce polished articles that can, hopefully, offer insightful advice to those in the same professional circumstances.
Lakshman Somasundaram, a product management director, is hopeful that the feature will help users learn from each other’s experiences and find solutions to work-related issues. He cites a collaborative article about helping students develop a ‘growth mindset’, which received advice from over 50 teachers who consistently shared their anecdotes about creating such environments in their classrooms.
The platform is also making strides to become the go-to destination for professionals looking to stay ahead of the curve. At the end of March, it debuted a variety of free courses focused on “the future of work” – namely, machine learning, artificial intelligence, risk and uncertainty, and other fields where AI is likely to have a dramatic impact.
At the helm of LinkedIn’s efforts is Keren Baruch, director of product management, who views AI as an opportunity to create career opportunities rather than end them. The platform is adamant that AI should bolster human voices, not replace them.
Baruch and her team are determined to make LinkedIn much more than the proverbial résumé-repository and help it evolve into a content-creation platform. That’s why, aside from the recent innovations, the company has called upon journalists from outlets like Bloomberg and Insider to contribute to its news division, and started designating members as ‘top voices’ in particular fields.
Experts’ opinions about AI vary widely. Research from Goldman Sachs suggests that as many as 300 million jobs could vanish due to automation, while the World Economic Forum estimates that 100 million new ones are expected to emerge in the next five years. Still, many people remain cautiously optimistic about the opportunities AI could present—including Baruch.
The ultimate goal for LinkedIn, she says, is to provide an information hub that allows everyone to share their knowledge and expertise and help people from around the world gain access to new career opportunities. With its collaborative articles, courses, and other AI-driven initiatives, the platform is on the right track to achieve that goal.
