GO mBEANNAÍ DIA daoibh, hello to technophobes and gadget geeks alike, you’re all more than welcome to the Bluffer’s Guide to Irish.
When you ask children nowadays what they want to be when they grow up - cad é ba mhaith leat a dhéanamh nuair atá tú mór - and in times gone by they might have said múinteoir - a teacher, or dochtúir - a doctor, peileadóir - a footballer, réalt popcheoil - a popstar and so on.
Nowadays, young people might say ba mhaith liom jab a bheith agam - I’d like to have a job because according to a report by Bank of America Merrill Lynch, up to 35% of all workers in the UK and 47% of those in the US – including white-collar workers – could see their jobs being done by machines in the future má mhaireann an plainéad an fad sin - if the planet lasts that long, of course.
Will the sick be looked after by robots?
You just have to listen to the banaltraí traochta - exhausted nurses who say they are under overwhelming pressure at work and can’t cope any more.
It often surprises the Bluffer to hear people say that one of the great things about An Ríocht Aontaithe - the United Kingdom is the NHS but the NHS is falling apart at the seams – deliberately some would say – so that government can say the system doesn’t work and should be put in the hands of private medicine.
There have been stunning innovations in medical technology and many are alive today because of it but the ill or the frail can’t be looked after by R2-D2 or K9 so we need proper, human medical staff in a service that treats them appallingly.
Tá sé uafásach - it’s awful the way the most important jobs – as we found out during the Covid pandemic – are done by the least-well paid people.
So young people are looking for the new generation of jobs, jobs we couldn’t even have imagined, say, 20 years ago.
If wee Jimmy or Jane says ba mhaith liom a bheith i mo néalailtire would you know what he was talking about? It means I want to be a Cloud Architect.
Cloud Architects show companies how to store their information, develop computing strategies and
Anailisoir optamú innill cuardaigh - is a CEO analyst, the guy/gal who will get you up to number one in google searches and so on; a Bainisteoir Inbhuanaitheachta - Sustainability manager will advise a company on their green policies while an Innealtóir Intleachta Saorga is an Artificial Intelligence Engineer.
And there are many other jobs like that on the go and they will be as natural to future generations as the milkman, the chimney sweep, compositors and lamplighters.
There are also jobs that are looking quite precarious like travel agents, bank tellers and, the way things are going, journalists.
Gone too are jobs for life. We are living in a throwaway culture were very little is made to last and people no longer have loyalty to a particular company and vice versa.
The only constant in life is change.
CÚPLA FOCAL
cad é ba mhaith leat a dhéanamh nuair atá tú mór (cadge ay ba why lat a yanoo noor ataa too more) - what would you like to do when you are big
múinteoir(moontchore) - a teacher
dochtúir(dokhtoor) - a doctor
peileadóir(pelladore) - a footballer
réalt popcheoil(raylt popkyoil) - a popstar
ba mhaith liom jab a bheith agam(ba wyh liom jab a vay ugum) - I’d like to have a job
má mhaireann an plainéad an fad sin (ma waran un planayd un fad shin) - if the planet lasts that long
banaltraí traochta(banaltree traykhta) - exhausted nurses
An Ríocht Aontaithe(un reeakht aynteeha) - the United Kingdom
Tá sé uafásach(taa shay ooafasakh) - it’s awful
ba mhaith liom a bheith i mo néalailtire (ba why lum a vay i maw nyayl-altchire) - I’d like to be a Cloud Architect
anailisoir optamú innill cuardaigh(analeshore optamoo inyil cooardee) - a CEO analyst
Bainisteoir Inbhuanaitheachta(banishtore inwooneehakhta) - a sustainability manager
Innealtóir Intleachta Saorga(inyiltore inchlakhta seerga) - an Artificial Intelligence Engineer
