My dream job

Growing up, I have always had a flair and passion for communication. I loved talking to people and getting to know them on a deeper level, I loved listening to their stories and in turn sharing mine. Moreover, as I grew older, I discovered social media, and my love for it skyrocketed especially after I realised the power it embodied in doing good, albeit in the hands of the correct people, and thereafter utilised to spread goodness for the betterment of society. Hence, this naturally led me to eventually study Communication and New Media in university. Truth to be told, when someone asks me about my career path after I graduate, I am unable to give a concrete answer due to the overwhelming number of specialisations my course has to offer, the number of jobs I have yet to explore through internships, and the number of factors that I have to consider (such as whether my pay can suffice my lifestyle in such an expensive city like Singapore).

When I think about what would define a “dream job” I would think of several factors. Firstly, I would think about the hard and soft skills that I am confident I can excel in. In this case, I am confident that I am a good speaker, and a good communicator, whereby I can succinctly articulate my thoughts into words – be it through my writing or my talking. Secondly, I would consider where my passions lie, and in this case, my passions lie in advocating for social causes that I am in great favour of, which would encompass issues with regards to women’s rights. Thirdly, I would consider the pay as money is a very important factor, especially living in an expensive city like Singapore. Essentially, I want to be able to leave my office at the end of the day and feel a sense of fulfilment, knowing that I am doing what I love and I am able to earn good money while doing it. Therefore, I typed these three factors into ChatGPT, and enquired about what job would be the most suited for me and this is what ChatGPT had to say: 

Prior to reading this, I had never heard of this job title, however the description of it does in fact describe my ideal job. It genuinely took me by surprise how accurate this information was, and how it was so customised to me. Therefore, one advantage of ChatGPT in the aspect of my dream job would be to accurately combine my passions and my skill sets and translate it into a tangible reality. 

I went a step further and added in a “in Singapore” at the back of my question about my dream job. This was the result: 

In this case of specifying the context of my dream job to my home country back in Singapore, ChatGPT fails to come up with companies and job roles specifically in Singapore, and gives general answers of jobs available. Therefore, although ChatGPT is useful in providing answers that are customised to your personality, it fails to consider the dynamic of these jobs in a Singaporean context. Singapore is heavily STEM focused, and jobs in the arts (especially option number 3) is not a very feasible option in terms of its pay and sustainability. Indeed, the aspects of strengths and passions do align with these responses, however the aspect of feasibility and practicality is lacking due to the insufficient understanding of the worklife dynamic in Singapore. Therefore, ChatGPT is not useful in this context in terms of its inability to have a practical and feasible response when asked to contextualise a Singaporean context. 

There are several risk factors as well when it comes to using ChatGPT for such queries, one of them being the potential over-reliance on a bot that does not know you to give you an opinion over such a personal matter. 

In conclusion, ChatGPT is seen as more useful than disadvantageous, especially in the context of researching on such matters that do not involve academia as it had provided me with insights into jobs that I was unaware of, showing me that there are in fact jobs that can meet all my wants and needs. However, the practicality of this job in its translation into reality is debatable. There are indeed risk factors such as a potential over-reliance on an AI bot that does know you personally, to be weighing in on such personal matters. However, it is up to the individual to discern an objective opinion, and utilise the bot well such that it is more beneficial than it is harmful to their well-being.