about the Robot-Zombie Apocalypse.

The idea that the robots are going to come

and eat our jobs.

But at the end of the day,

technology has always created more jobs

than it's destroyed.

We've always had this view as a society

that there's a learning phase of your life,

and then there's a working

phase of your life.

We now understand that learning

and working are parallel processes.

Why?

Well, because work is ever-changing.

We have to prepare people for the work

that we, as humans, are uniquely qualified to do.

That means that we need to

use our human traits

and capabilities to actually do the work

that machines can't do.

Those human traits and capabilities

that allow us to be human—

to be empathetic, to be compassionate,

to be a collaborator;

well, those are the same things

that allow us to be successful

as a democratic society—

to be ethical with each other,

to actually understand

someone else's viewpoint.

If we don't use our education system

to renew our democratic system,

we face an existential risk.

Our democracy's at risk,

and as we think about the

risks of that democracy,

we have to think about

how we're actually going

to prepare people to be better participants

in that democratic system.

Education's the key

because it allows us to discern

the difference between fact and fiction,

between right and wrong,

between ethical and unethical.

Learning and working

and democracy are all coming together

at a very important time in history.

We need to better design

our learning system

to actually focus on preparing people

not just for good jobs

and a good life,

but to be effective participants

in a democratic system.

Everybody has a role to play

in addressing democratic renewal.

Employers have an important role to play

in making sure that their

employees get access

to the education and training that they need

to not only allow them to

be effective at their jobs,

but to be better engaged

in their communities

and their families.

Education institutions need

to do a better job of

not just preparing people

to be more informed about civic processes

and ideas and systems,

but actively engage in that system.

And individuals need to use their own agency

in order to actually make sure

that they're engaged in that process

and taking charge of their own learning.

The reality is that the new jobs being created

are going to require a

post-high school education.

So in March of 2021,

in the U.S. economy,

we created 916,000 new jobs.

Of those 916,000 new jobs,

7,000 went to people

with a high school credential or less,

and all the rest went to people with a degree,

a certificate, a certification,

or another credential.

The jobs that are going to

be available now, today,

and tomorrow, are going

to require high-quality

post-secondary credentials.

I believe that brighter days are ahead,

but we've gotta do a better

job of preparing people

for the future,

not simply leaving it to chance

or opportunity, but actually

being very deliberate

about recognizing where

the shortcomings are,

ensuring that people who

haven't had opportunities

in the past, have those opportunities.

Catching people who may have slipped

through the system earlier in life,

and bringing them back into the system.

To me, being deliberate about the choices

and about the ways in which

we can serve individuals

in making better choices for themselves,

that will ultimately allow us

to be successful as a democratic society.