Skills for Tomorrow Shaped at Goldsmiths
| 5 Min Read
What skills will you need to succeed tomorrow?
It is a harder question to answer than it once was. AI and new technologies are changing jobs, industries and the way we work. Technical skills are evolving quickly. But skills such as creativity, critical thinking, communication, judgement and leadership are becoming no less important.
At Goldsmiths, we’re thinking about both.
#SkillsForTomorrow Shaped@Goldsmiths is a new series exploring the skills that could matter in the years ahead, and how education can keep pace with a changing world of work.
And we’re starting with five new online postgraduate programmes launching in March 2027.
Five new ways to build skills for tomorrow
The new programmes cover technology, business and creative practice. Different subjects, but with a common question behind them: what will people need to know and be able to do next?
The Artificial Intelligence and Data Analytics MSc online focuses on using data and AI to identify patterns, generate evidence and support better decisions. Students work with analytics, machine learning and data engineering to identify patterns, generate evidence and support better decisions, while developing the human judgement needed to use AI responsibly.
“As AI becomes part of more decisions, knowing how to work with data is only part of the skill set. People also need to question the output, understand its limits and know where human judgement needs to come in.”
–Dr Basel Barakat, Programme Convenor,
AI and Data Analytics MSc Online
Goldsmiths University of London
The Computational Linguistics MSc online looks at another fast-moving area: language.
Large language models, conversational AI, translation tools and intelligent assistants all depend on machines being able to process human language. Computational linguistics brings together linguistics and computing to examine how machines work with language, meaning and intent.
For anyone interested in where LLMs and language technology go next, understanding what happens beneath the interface could become an increasingly useful skill.
“Language sits at the heart of some of the most interesting developments in AI. Understanding how machines process it gives students the technical skills to work with these systems and the critical perspective to question how well they work.”
–Tony Russell-Rose, Reader Computer Science,
Computational Linguistics MSc Online
Goldsmiths University of London
The human skills changing with technology
Technology is also changing what we expect from managers and marketers.
The Management MSc online looks at leadership in organisations being shaped by AI, new technology and changing ways of working. Creativity, innovation, judgement and decision-making sit alongside core management knowledge.
The Marketing MSc online combines strategic thinking with consumer insight, creativity, data and AI. Today’s marketer has more information and more technology at their disposal than ever. Knowing what to do with it, and how to connect with people, matters just as much.
“Managers and marketers are making decisions in a very different environment. Technology gives them new tools and new information. They still need the judgement, creativity and confidence to turn those into good decisions.”
–Alex Pickering, Programme Convenor, Management and Marketing
Goldsmiths University of London
Then there is the Creative Writing MA online.
Storytelling has never belonged only to novelists. Writers, educators, publishers, marketers, leaders and people across the creative industries all rely on the ability to shape an idea, find the right voice and connect with an audience.
The programme develops those skills through fiction, poetry, life writing and the novel, giving students the space, structure and feedback to develop their own writing and think about the stories they want to tell.
“The world around us is changing. The ability to pay and sustain attention, develop ideas, find your voice and communicate with other people matter more than ever. Those are skills writers practise every day.”
–Dr Jocelyn Page, Programme Convenor
Skills for tomorrow across Goldsmiths
These five programmes start the next chapter of Goldsmiths Online. The conversation stretches across the wider portfolio too.
Students are already learning to build machine learning systems, use AI in creative practice, understand human behaviour and examine the stories that shape childhood and society.
There isn’t one route to tomorrow’s career.
Over the coming months, #SkillsForTomorrow will bring academics from across Goldsmiths together to look at the skills changing within their fields and what that could mean for people planning their next move.
During National Coding Week in September, academics from the School of Computing will discuss which technology skills they believe will matter in the years ahead.
On National Poetry Day, 1 October, an online info session, The Wonder of Words, will look at poetry, imagination and how words can help adults and younger readers see the world differently. Sign up here.
You can also join us on 7 October for Skills for Tomorrow: Creativity in Marketing and Management to explore why creativity matters in business, and Skills for Tomorrow in the Age of AI on 8 October to discover the knowledge and skills necessary to advance in the expanding world of AI.
The business conversation will explore the capabilities managers and marketers will need as technology changes organisations, customers and markets.
And our technology academics will tackle a question that is becoming harder to ignore: As AI gets better, what do humans still need to be good at?
The answers will keep changing. That’s part of the point.
Goldsmiths has always encouraged people to think differently. These five new programmes take that thinking into the changing world of work, looking at the knowledge, ideas and skills people can use to shape what comes next.
#SkillsForTomorrow. Shaped @Goldsmiths.