"Young people have to find the solutions to the new challenges"

2023-04-19 04:04:00

Is what we create for the good of people or not? Is artificial intelligence a threat or a support, and what does digital progress mean for the living and working world?

The first edition of “Digital Values” revolved around questions of this kind. Pupils, teachers and company representatives faced the wide range of topics. “We have to solve the questions and we will find the right answers together,” said Chris Müller at his last event after eleven years at the helm of Tabakfabrik. The founding director moderated the morning together with Rose student Gracia Pfeiffer. Steffi Burkhart (37) held the keynote speech, after which the mostly young participants continued in workshops in the Grand Garage. The former competitive athlete (rhythmic gymnastics), who has been campaigning for her generation in politics and business since 2015, then spoke to the OÖN about challenges, changes and hopes.

OÖN: Will people also have their place in the ongoing digitization?

Steffi Burkhart: I always try to look to the future with a positive mission. When young people sit here, you have to give them a positive view of the future. We will have more humanity, the boys can create, that’s an opportunity. There is hope that the future will be more positive. The boys have to find the solutions to the new challenges. There must always be hope that the future will be more positive and that technology will not take over us massively.

What has the competitive athlete made of you?

I do think I picked up some skills in human intelligence. Ambition to get back up after defeats. I had to learn to function in a team, had to take responsibility and build perseverance. Sport shaped me more than school. The fact that I developed completely differently also requires self-confidence.

Was it difficult for you to find yourself?

I got the job I’m doing now at the age of 28. I didn’t even know that there was a job as a speaker. I’ve tried a variety of things. I have always been interested in the biopsychosocial health of people and organizations. I have tried to convey to young people that they trust that things will work out in hindsight. They should follow their hearts, not let themselves be influenced by the advice of their elders, which is good but no longer fits the current reality. It is important to be the manager of your own life. Social norms are softening more and more. As a result, everyone has to take on more and more responsibility for themselves.

Be courageous is one of your mottos for young people.

If the generation of parents were sitting in front of me, I would tell them the same thing. They should encourage young people to find themselves. Anyone who is passionate about what they do will be able to make money from it. It is important to be the manager of your own life.

Change is always the most difficult thing because it has to start with yourself. To meet people without value, for example. Are we already so far that we as humans have internalized this need for change?

I believe it is an important part of human intelligence that I approach everything without judgment and reflect on myself how I judge. The older I am, the more I have my patterns and beliefs. Experience alone will no longer bring us into the future. Of course we need new questions and new answers. I have to approach the new in a nonjudgmental manner and confront young people, which is not yet that easy. But that means self-reflection.

They also say that school does not necessarily require grades.

What do grades say? A lot of young people think they have to get the best grades. I always say, use the school as an experimental space to try things out, work on yourself, you’ll convince the companies with that. Technical expertise is changing. We all know a lot, but we do far too little. We know enough university dropouts who are highly successful in their professional lives.

Are you personally afraid of the future?

No, I’m a very optimistic person. I am convinced that solutions will always be found to improve human development, but of course we must ensure that we avoid serious mistakes in the rapid technological development stage. If technology is too negatively biased, it can somehow attack humans as well. That should not happen.

How will the world of work change?

We constantly have to ask ourselves what impact tools like ChatGPT have on one’s job. It will be about how to stay on the ball and keep your finger on the pulse. The changes will come to us so frequently that we will have to invest much more time in learning and further development. In places like the Tobacco Factory or the Grand Garage you can learn to understand the new themes. This is the passage of time. We are in a new phase of upheaval where we have to remain very curious.

What gives you hope that we will realize that we all need each other to make the world a better place at large?

Much depends on governments who are allowed to govern countries. What develops negatively in societies often has to do with governments and people in politics. My hope is that in the future we will have many more positive leaders in government to act.

To person: Steffi Burkhart, born in 1985, after 12 years of competitive sports and high school, studied sports science in Cologne and received his doctorate in 2013 in the field of health psychology. From 2010 to 2012 she worked in the occupational health management of a large corporation, in 2013 she switched to the start-up “Gedendentanken”. Burkhart has been self-employed since 2015. More information: steffiburkhart.com