I kan noget, som de andre ikke kan

Rektor Lene Dammand Lunds tale ved diplomoverrækkelsen den 19. juni / In English below

Kære dimittender, kære familie, venner, kolleger og gæster – hjerteligt velkommen.

Kæmpe tillykke til jer, der i dag kan kalde jer cand.scient.cons., cand.arch., cand.des., cand.tech.arch. og Ph.d. fra Det Kongelige Akademi. Det er stort. Det er stort for jer. Det er stort for os, og det er stort for de andre, I har i jeres liv. I har al mulig grund til at være stolte af jer selv! Det er virkelig skønt at se så mange her i salen, for det ér en mindeværdig dag.

Nu kan I sænke skuldrene. I har gennemført en lang og krævende uddannelse. I har tilegnet jer spændende fagområder, I har afprøvet ideer, modelleret løsninger på udfordrende problemer, og I har kronet det med en bestået afgangseksamen. TILLYKKE!

Lige om lidt står I her foran mig og får tildelt et velfortjent eksamensbevis. Det er een adgangsbillet til nye muligheder. Det markerer overgangen til at bruge jeres kompetencer på helt andre måder, og det er indgangen til et arbejdsmarked, hvor andre succeskriterier tæller.

Overgangen fra studie til arbejdsliv

I de år, I har været studerende her på Det Kongelige Akademi, har det primært handlet om jer, om jeres læring. I har skullet vise, at I blev dygtigere og dygtigere. I er blevet målt. Den faglige kvalitet af jeres opgaver er igen og igen blevet diskuteret. I har skulle vise et stadig højere fagligt niveau. Og lad mig sige det klart og tydeligt – vi har også lært meget af jer! Tak for det!

Man kan lidt firkantet sige, at I kommer fra et miljø, hvor jeres læring og vidensproduktion er i højsædet. Nu skal I ud i miljøer, hvor kunder, kollegaer og samarbejdspartnere blander sig, hvor pris og omkostninger fylder, og hvor tidsplaner er afgørende.

I kommer ud i en verden, der lægger vægt på specialistviden og på erfaringsviden, på hurtig intuitiv forståelse af problemstillinger og på forståelse af arbejdsgange, interessenter og netværk. Det er altså nogle andre succeskriterier, der bliver lagt til grund – man bliver målt på en helt anden måde.

Erfaring og idealisme på markedets præmisser

Lad mig sige det, som det er: Der er et element af ”fake it till you make it” i starten af ens arbejdsliv – sådan var det i hvert fald for mig. Det er helt ok – de andre gør det, og vi gamle rotter har lært at gøre det med et smil på læben.

Og ja, man kan opleve at føle sig lille og uduelig, fordi man endnu ikke har de nødvendige erfaringer at trække på og ikke har lært at lave 5 ting på én gang superhurtigt. Det kan virke skræmmende, men jeg håber I også kan bruge det som udfordrende benspænd, der kan give jer ny energi, nye kompetencer og nye tilgange til jeres opgaver.

For I kan noget, som de andre ikke kan. Alt det I har lært her om faglig kvalitet og om at tænke i udvikling og innovation. Det er der brug for. De tanker, I har gjort jer om en mere bæredygtig og socialt retfærdig verden, dem er der brug for. I stedet for at tænke sådan på det, at jeres tårnhøje idealer nu møder muren på markedet, så husk på, at det jo netop ér markedet, der er motoren for den nødvendige forandring, som I bliver vigtige bærere af. Vær ikke bange for at gå ud og bemægtige jer markedet, fravriste det sine uvaner og sætte jeres tydelige fodaftryk!

I kommer til at gå på kompromis, men det ér jer, der kommer til at definere vores fag, vores brancher om 10-15 år. Jeg glæder mig til at følge jer.

Akademiske kompetencer i en tid med AI

Og nu er det jo heldigvis ikke sådan, at I har været helt isoleret inden for Det Kongelige Akademis mure under jeres studie.

Da jeg i sin tid dimitterede som arkitekt, var skillevejen fra uddannelse til arbejde meget mere tydelig end den er i dag. Erhvervslivet fyldte meget lidt. Sådan er det ikke mere: I har mødt borgere, I har mødt aftagere, de fleste af jer har været i praktik og mange har haft et studiejob.

Noget der kommer til at påvirke jeres arbejdsliv, er AI, som i stigende grad overtager arbejdsgange og leverer viden. Også her ved jeg, at I kan noget, som AI ikke kan. I kommer til at berige verden med det, AI ikke kan erstatte.

Den viden AI leverer er ikke strategisk og situationsbestemt. Da en Tesla med et selvkørende styresystem i en prøvekørsel, et par hundrede meter fra hvor vi er nu, skulle køre til Den Grå Hal, var den ved at køre ind i den pæl, der spærrede vejen.

AI er en kæmpe hjælp, og det kommer til at fjerne visse arbejdsopgaver. Men det fjerner ikke de opgaver, der kræver at man kombinerer strategisk, teoretisk tænkning med praktisk erfaring. Det fjerner ikke de opgaver, der kræver, at man inddrager sine sanser. Og derfor er jeg grundlæggende ikke særlig bekymret for, at jeres kompetencer bliver uaktuelle.

Tværtimod kan det faktisk betyde, at AI fjerner rutineopgaverne i jeres fremtidige arbejdsliv, så I kan bruge mere tid til at tænke strategisk over de komplekse samfunds- og markedssystemer, der skal ændres, til at lave eksperimenter, der inddrager vores sanser og til alt det andet, I har lært her.

Der er brug for jeres faglighed

I er godt klædt på. Jeres uddannelser har det til fælles, at I har lært at håndtere stor kompleksitet. I formår at danne bro mellem teori og praksis og mellem teknologi, adfærd og oplevelse.

Der er mere end nogensinde brug for sådan nogen som jer. For I kan noget, de andre og AI ikke kan.

Kæmpe tillykke fra Det Kongelige Akademi. Jeg håber, vi ser nogen af jer igen i samarbejder, som kollegaer eller når I synes, det er tid til videreuddannelse.

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You are capable of something that others aren’t
 

Dear graduates, family, friends, colleagues and guests - we warmly welcome you.

Our most heartfelt congratulations to all of you who have now been awarded the title of Master of Conservation Science, Master of Architecture, Master of Design or Master of Architectural Technology, as well as to all of you who have completed a PhD programme at the Royal Danish Academy. This is a great moment. It is a great moment for you personally, but it is also profoundly rewarding for us and everyone else in your lives. You have every reason to be proud! Congratulations to everyone. And thank you for enriching us by choosing to study at our institution.

It is wonderful to see so many of you here in the hall, because it is truly a memorable day.

You can lean back and relax now, after having completed a long and demanding study programme. You have completed your studies in stimulating academic and artistic fields after having tried out ideas and modelled solutions to challenging problems and then topped it all off by passing your final exams. CONGRATULATIONS!

You will soon be standing right here in front of me to receive a well-deserved diploma, your ticket to new opportunities. It will mark the transition to using your qualifications in brand-new ways and become your portkey to a labour market where different criteria for success are at stake.

The transition from studying to working life

During the years you have been studying at the Royal Danish Academy, you have primarily focused on your personal objectives and learning processes. You’ve had to demonstrate your gradual acquisition of skill sets. You have been measured. The academic and artistic quality of your assignments has been discussed repeatedly. You’ve had to demonstrate an increasingly higher level of academic and artistic achievement. And please allow me to say this loudly and clearly: we have also learned a lot from you! For which we are very grateful!

To put it simply, you are leaving an environment in which your learning and production of knowledge has had top priority. Now you are venturing into environments peopled by customers, colleagues and business partners, where pricing and costs enter the picture, and schedules are crucial.

You will be entering a world that prioritizes specialist expertise, experiential knowledge, prompt intuitive understanding of problems and the ability to comprehend procedures, stakeholders and networks. Consequently, some of these are the basic criteria for success – and you will be measured according to completely different parameters.

Experience and idealism on market terms

Let me say it like it is: Early on in your career you might feel like it's a matter of “faking it till you make it” – at least I did. That’s OK: everyone is doing it and we veterans have learned to take this in our stride.

And yes, you might feel insignificant and useless, because you have yet to amass experience to draw on and have yet to learn how to do five things at the same time in the blink of an eye. This may seem daunting, but I hope you can also regard these as challenging obstacles which revitalise and enhance your skill sets and provide new approaches to your tasks.

Because you are capable of something that others aren’t. There is a great need for everything you’ve learned here about professional and artistic quality and about how to think in terms of development and innovation. And for the ideas that you have come up with for a more sustainable, socially just world. Instead of believing that your lofty ideals are about to crash into a wall called the “market”, just remember: the market is what notably drives the requisite change of which you will be crucial implementers. Don’t hesitate to go out and take command of the market – excoriate its bad habits and make your mark!

You will ultimately make compromises, but you are the ones who will be defining our professions and sectors ten or fifteen years from now. I look forward to following your careers.

Academic qualifications in a time of AI

Fortunately, you’ve not been isolated within the walls of the Royal Danish Academy during your studies.

Back when I graduated as an architect, the transition from studying to working was much more abrupt than it is today. The business community played almost no role. This is no longer the case: you have already been interacting with individuals, customers and companies, most of you have completed internships and many of you have held student jobs.

Your careers will undoubtedly be impacted by AI, which is taking over procedures and generating knowledge to an ever-increasing extent. Here, too, I know that you are capable of something that AI is not. You will enrich the world with something that AI cannot replace.

The knowledge generated by AI is neither strategic nor situational. When a Tesla with a self-driving control system had to make a test run a few hundred meters from where we are right now and was instructed to drive over to the Grey Hall, it almost collided with the post blocking the road.

AI will be enormously helpful, and it will ultimately take over certain tasks. But it won’t remove the ones which require you to combine a strategic, theoretical approach with practical experience. It won't remove tasks that require you to use your senses. That’s why I’m not fundamentally concerned that your qualifications will become irrelevant.

If anything, AI may free you from the routine tasks of your future careers, giving you more room to think strategically about the complex societal and market-based systems that must be reshaped to create experiments that engage our senses, and to use all the other skills you’ve gained here.

The world needs your expertise

You are well prepared. The common feature of your study programmes is that you have learned to handle vast complexities. You have the ability to build bridges between theory and practice and between technology, behavior and experience.

More than ever before, the world needs people like you. Because you have capabilities that others and AI don’t.

The Royal Danish Academy extends its heartfelt congratulations to you. I hope to see some of you again someday on collaborative projects as colleagues or whenever you feel the time is right to further your studies.