♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> Dr. Patrick Dicks, one of our nation's youngest authorities on technology, innovation, and artificial intelligence -- next on "The Chavis Chronicles."

>> Major funding for "The Chavis Chronicles" is provided by the following.

At Wells Fargo, we are committed to diversity and understand our responsibility in supporting and empowering diverse communities.

Diversity and inclusion is integral to the way we work.

Supporting the financial health of our diverse customers and employees is one of the many ways we remain invested in inclusion for all today, tomorrow, and in the future.

American Petroleum Institute -- through the core elements of API's Energy Excellence Program, our members are committed to accelerating safety, environmental and sustainability progress throughout the natural-gas and oil industry in the U.S. and around the world.

You can learn more at api.org/apiEnergyExcellence.

Reynolds American, dedicated to building a better tomorrow for our employees and communities.

Reynolds stands against racism and discrimination in all forms and is committed to building a more diverse and inclusive workplace.

At AARP, we are committed to empowering people to choose how they live as they age.

♪ ♪ ♪ >> We welcome to "The Chavis Chronicles" one of our nation's youngest experts on automation and innovation.

Dr. Patrick Dicks, welcome to "The Chavis Chronicles."

>> Thank you, Dr. Chavis, for inviting me to "The Chavis Chronicles."

>> So, how does a young brother get so focused on STEM?

>> From being a young kid, from being around computers.

My parents bought my sister a Tandy computer when I was about 12 years old.

I remember playing around with it, and I just saw the innovation in that.

And from growing up on a farm, seeing technology even in the '80s, and from when my dad had auto paint and body shop, seeing how stuff was starting to be computerized when we were little.

So, I've always just been inquisitive about technology and how things make processes faster and how people coordinate with those.

>> Well, let's talk about today.

What's your prognosis?

I know we're in a digital age.

>> Mm-hmm.

>> What's going to happen with people who are currently employed?

Do they have to go back and be retrained?

What's your forecast in terms of the job market?

>> My forecast is automation and artificial intelligence and machine learning will work together to eliminate the human interaction on jobs.

So, we're headed for a technological revolution.

It's already started.

>> Are we getting the word out to our HBCUs and other centers of higher education?

Do you see people shifting to STEM, shifting to A.I., artificial intelligence?

What do you see?

>> The word is not getting out there enough because curriculums from schools and jobs have to have people retrained on them.

So, we really need to get the word out about this devastating event.

This is the fourth industrial revolution.

You know, we have cryptocurrency.

We have the machine learning that I was talking about.

So, we have those types of things really, really competing against people for jobs and doing it fast.

>> I'm going to step back a little bit.

I want to talk about first "K" through 12.

>> Mm-hmm.

>> How does one prepare at an early age to get into one of these new, innovative fields of technology?

>> One of the things is you would have to discover what your child's interests are.

You know, what we would do -- my dad had us putting cars together, my brother and I.

We're five years apart.

So, that's where my initiative started from and my innovation.

The same way I saw that I could put things together, and you have to look at a child and say, "They're good at taking them apart and putting them together.

How can that skill transfer into the STEM?"

So, that's one aspect of it.

The next aspect of it is the school system that your child is currently in.

Are they teaching them repetitive things?

Are they pushing the kids to grow?

Do they have these advanced programs?

And the third thing is, where do you currently live at?

Are you in an area to where there is much upward mobility?

Are you in a market to where once a child receives an education, would they have to relocate to get a high-paying job?

>> The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation recently also did a study that showed that the introduction of the importance of math... >> Mm-hmm.

>> ...creates a pathway to STEM and to other innovative.

Are you seeing an emphasis on math in "K" through 12?

>> No, not at all.

>> Why?

If that's going to be the future of the job market, why aren't we preparing kids to be gainfully employed?

>> Basically, I've said this to many people.

We're preparing kids to be good test takers.

We're pushing kids through school.

So, when they get into the real world -- one of the things I've said to people about education, high school and the real world is two different things.

Your kid can have a 4.0 in high school.

They could be accelerating at elementary and middle school.

But the real tests come when they have to prove it in life.

And many people are failing at that.

And on to the math aspect -- I think now school systems are using Common Core math, which is really outdated.

We're not teaching our kids about trigonometry to their degree -- trigonometry, calculus.

You know, you have limits and functions.

Like, when I did computer science, we had to learn about physics, statistics, linear algebra.

So, many of the kids now really don't have a strong math background.

Many of the kids can't even read correctly.

There have been tests, especially from Georgia, since I'm near it.

Many of the kids don't even read on a sixth- or seventh-grade level correctly.

>> We live in the Internet age.

So, why can't young people go get via the Internet what they need to be successful in life?

>> One of the things the parents need to do is not have their kid on social media, actually have them focus on stuff that's important.

You can find anything on the Internet.

The Internet has been around since the early '90s.

So, when I was in high school in the late '90s, early 2000s, the Internet was prevalent.

But how people have access to it now is astronomical.

So, one of the things parents can do is to really push their kids to go out there and see the information.

You could go on YouTube and learn how to do problems.

I went on YouTube and sought help for things I was doing.

And you can go out on Google.

You could take Coursera programs.

They are free.

You really have to go out there and put your child's education in your hands because the school system is not going to prepare your kid for the world like you can.

>> So, there are solutions... >> Yes.

>> ...to the problems that you're describing, or I would say the challenges that you describe with new innovations in technology.

>> Yes, there are solutions to it, but you just have to get ahead of it because once things become widespread with companies and how the world is advancing, the world will always go forward, and it's never going backwards.

So, if you're not along with the world moving forward, you will become obsolete.

>> How do you spend most of your time now trying to better inform, particularly communities of color, of the importance of math, the importance of STEM, the importance of getting a pathway to financial success?

>> I've created videos that are on YouTube and Instagram.

I've also done radio interviews.

I've done TV interviews.

I try to get the word out much as possible because I think that's one of my gifts is being a visionary.

I see what's about to come.

And with the pandemic, it slowed things down.

They were going to automate things, anyway, but with people not wanting to work and how the world is moving forward, they're going to accelerate it.

So, one of the things that I also try to do is whenever I get the opportunity, people will call me.

I'll say, "Hey, what is your child majoring in?

Have your child, have" -- The people that I know working in a manufacturing facility, I express to them.

I said, "A company will invest $200 million to get rid of you."

And they say they won't do that.

I said, "In about 60 months, you will not have a job unless you will retrain."

And I express to people so much that I see what's coming.

You have to prepare for this.

>> In other places around the world, particularly in Germany, you cannot just get a high school diploma.

You also have to have an apprentice certificate.

So, when you get your secondary education, you also know how to do something with your hands, as well as with your mind.

Why don't we have apprenticeships and mentorships as part of the school curriculums today here in the United States of America?

>> When I was in school, they had a vocational school.

You would learn drafting.

You would learn to be a brick mason.

This was in high school when I was going to school in Williston.

You would get on a bus, and they would take you over there.

But society has pushed people that are in blue-collar fields, which are very high paying, to say everybody needs to get a 4-year degree and work at a desk.

That's not the thing anymore.

And we have to really reinvest into the trades because there are a lot of people that are very bright that are good with their hands, and the 2-year technical schools will give them a great advantage and allow them not to get in much debt.

But the school systems and the communities have to reinvest in those.

It was looked down upon if you went to a trade school, but there are people that get educations from these trade schools that make just as much as people in white-collar jobs.

So, I would really tell people, "You really need to be good with your hands and be analytical to make it into the future."

>> One of the highest-paying jobs today is in computer science, particularly cybersecurity.

>> Mm-hmm.

>> And I'm told that you can study cybersecurity even without a college degree.

>> Yes.

>> Is that true?

>> Yes, you can get certifications, like your CCNA, your CISSP, Security+.

Some of the students I teach even sent me a website that has even the curriculum on how to get all the certificates and everything.

>> Are there national organizations that are focusing on innovation and technological advancement?

>> There are some, but most of the millennials and the younger kids are getting momentum to go into sports and to be in entertainment.

There's nothing wrong with that.

But you have to also remember it takes people that actually have a degree or some kind of training to operate the -- you know, if you have medical doctors and sports, entertainment.

You have to have people that are journalists and work communications.

But many of these kids are not even getting help from home.

They're getting -- well, the type of help they're getting is the way "Find a job, work it, and die."

You know, the old thing, cliché, of working a job for 30 years and saying, "Well, I'm gonna work at this facility or this factory."

That doesn't make it anymore.

And then, also, you have the other group of kids that are getting the momentum, but they'll get around negative influences to say, "Well, you can go forward," but they'll have somebody else in the circle saying, "Nah, you can't do that."

You know, you have a lot of kids and families to where they're saying, "I can reach for the stars," but somebody in their family is pulling them down.

We have to get kids out of those circumstances and adults to put them with the right people that can help motivate them and keep pushing them forward.

>> We both were born in farm communities -- you in South Carolina, I'm in North Carolina.

>> Yes.

>> What's happening with black farmers?

I understand from some of the farmers I'm talking to now is that innovation, even STEM technologies, helping to transform even what is classified as a farm.

>> Yes.

>> Can you explain what some of those opportunities may be?

>> Well, my granddad, I remember.

Now they have GreenStar.

I watched a video.

The John Deere tractors drive themselves.

I remember when we were little, we would have to drive and look back when we planted stuff with fertilizer.

There was an ultimate waste of fertilizer being spread all in the field.

So, now, with computers, the tractors and the combines drive themselves.

If you go on YouTube and watch these videos, somebody could plant 100 acres, and the tractor will drive.

All they have to do is just put it on the row.

It will tell them what to do.

It'll make sure the yield is going to be right.

So, the thing about having farmers that were even mechanics.

I watched the videos.

A regular mechanic can't even fix the new tractors.

And it takes money to be a farmer.

My granddad, they did it back in the '60s and the '70s and '80s.

But you have to think about it now.

The old saying is "When you're a farmer, your stuff has to be paid for when it's in the ground."

Basically, you'll have a company that buys it already.

So, for a black farmer, I don't even see many.

I see some that my parents' age still, but I don't see many black farmers.

It's very expensive to be a farmer.

You have to have what they call the USDA backing you up to really be a legit farmer now.

>> U.S. Department of Agriculture.

>> Yep.

>> It's my understanding that the Biden-Harris administration is trying to change the USDA to make sure that black farmers and other farmers of color are not pushed out of the marketplace.

And actually there are programs to help equip farmers with new innovation, with new technology.

In other words, if you have the information... >> Mm-hmm.

>> ...if you have the education... >> Mm-hmm.

>> ...and the experience, then it is possible to go into some of these fields, like even farming, but go in it with all the latest scientific, technological advances.

>> Yes.

Right now, to be a farmer, you really have to have -- for instance, say, like my dad or my granddad was still alive.

I could run the farm because I know how the technological aspect runs.

You know, people think farming is just farming.

There is a business aspect.

You have to be able to get loans.

You have to be able to get additional funds to keep the farm running because you might not make a yield one year, and there's a storm that comes through.

You have to have insurance.

There is so much that people don't know about agriculture, and I'm glad that the administration is trying to do that because it is slowly pushing people out to where you're going to have a monopoly on the types of people that can farm and afford to have $1 million tractors and equipment.

>> But also in North Carolina, they're into solar farming.

They're using farmland to create solar energy -- the intersection between the Department of Energy and the Department of Agriculture.

Talk to us about new forms of energy and how can communities of color get involved in some of the new technological aspects of farming, like solar farming?

>> If you have a lot of property, the electrical companies will come out and put a solar farm down.

I see people have them in their backyards.

They're doing it for schools down in South Carolina.

What they're basically trying to do -- you know, we have the climate-change stuff going on right now, and they're really trying to help with the climate change.

So, if you're in the community of color, if you have land, you should reach out to one of the companies.

Another thing, too, people don't realize is if you own -- we own a lot of land.

My granddad had about 260 acres, which was grandfathered down to everybody.

>> You still own the land?

>> We still own the land, and they cut timber off of it.

And they bought that land in the 1980s.

So, that's another thing in the community.

If you own land -- there's hardwood, there's pine trees -- there is other ways to stay ahead of what's going on and provide income for the family.

But those are some key ways that a community could get ahead of what's going on.

With the initiatives with soybeans, they're just trying to do even with the farming.

You know, we were talking about that earlier.

There are initiatives on that, trying to find clean energy, trying to grow crops because people are trying to get away from GMO.

The best thing I can tell everybody is to research and see what programs are out there that will compensate you or help you to say you own property.

Allow the United States Department of Agriculture to plant crops.

"Let us test this.

Let us do a solar farm."

They're always trying to test things, see how things work.

>> Where land is just vacant... >> Mm-hmm.

>> ...not being utilized at all... >> Yeah.

>> ...there may be some potential using technology to help develop a future for those families.

>> Yes, it is.

If you have about $1 million, you can buy 500 acres in South Carolina or some states.

And what people don't realize is you hold onto that land, you pay the taxes on it, and you could plant pine trees on it.

It takes 30 years, I think.

When we planted them when I was younger, it took about 20 years.

They call it "thinning them out," which the timber companies will go in, get the baby pines, and let the other trees mature.

So, you're talking about every 25 to 30 years the trees will mature, and they will just cut them.

And those are other ways that a community of color can also provide a generational wealth, not have somebody come in and sell it.

Just hold onto the land.

That's the biggest thing.

That's how you create wealth by holding onto land and holding onto other things.

>> So, when I read your résumé, I see you've lectured about 18 to 20 different universities... >> Mm-hmm.

>> ...across the United States.

>> Mm-hmm.

>> What are you hearing from college students?

What are you hearing from young people about their aspirations to go into technology and innovation?

>> Well, one of the first things I ask people, "You cannot do it for money."

That's the first thing, because you got to eat, sleep, and breathe it.

I love technology.

I read up on it every day.

And a lot of people, what they're trying to do is switch from one career field.

It's okay to do that, but you have to really realize what you're getting into, because some of the students will say, "Well, I was in this career sector.

I want to switch to this."

I have a real conversation with them and say, "Why are you really doing what you're doing?"

They said, "It's because of the money."

I said, "If you're chasing the money, it's going to be very, very hard to do this."

You have to love technology.

You got to live it.

You got to breathe it.

I say, "You're going to have to find yourself researching this stuff.

You're going to be up at night researching things," because I programmed before.

I talk to them about being a database administrator and programming.

I said, "Your mind is really going to work, and when you get into the technology field, find out what you're good at and capitalize on it and perfect it and continue to grow on it."

And many of the students I've came across, too, are not prepared for college.

As I was stating earlier, people just passed them.

One of students said, "I'm not ready for this."

You know, this was like an intro class.

And that tells me they have guidance counselors and people in high school, the parents or families or friends doing that, just passing them along.

>> So, for the category of people who may not be ready, as you say, for STEM, because they haven't had a good secondary education, what does that category of people do?

>> They could go to a tech school.

You know, tech schools now, they're changing their curriculum.

You could go to a technical school and get as many credits.

I started at a tech school.

You can get about 30 to 50 credits.

Then I transferred to S.C. State.

I recommend a lot of people doing it.

It gets you adjusted to college, and it also gets you adjusted to the curriculum.

You could go on YouTube.

Google has many courses.

IBM has many courses.

You know, data analytics, data -- >> Courses online?

>> Yeah, they have courses online.

There's this site called "Coursera."

You could go on there.

I show it to the students all the time to say, "Hey, data analytics and data science."

There's so much data, people don't know what to do with it.

You have the "R," you know, like the programming language for data science and Tableau.

And there are some other ones.

Those are some ways I would do it.

But the biggest thing I would tell someone is to research and go onto YouTube.

Use YouTube for what it's really meant for.

Research out there and say, "How do I get into technology?"

because people are always creating videos.

I found videos on the size of a bolt when I was fixing my car.

So, I know there are people out there creating videos on how to transfer to a different career in technology.

>> Another group of recent studies is showing that more and more African-Americans are going to college.

>> Mm-hmm.

>> Enrollment is up at HBCUs.

>> Mm-hmm.

>> And enrollment is up at some predominant white institutions.

But more people of color are going to those institutions.

But you're saying that making money should not be your first priority.

Getting an education will help you get more sustainability to have financial acquisitions later on in life.

>> Yes, that is important.

The money will come along with it, but if you don't know what you're doing, you can't make any money.

The old -- you can't -- well, not the old saying.

"You can't wing life anymore."

I have that talk with people.

I remember being 16 about 20 years ago, in 2000.

I would hear people saying I don't need to go to college.

>> But why would they tell you that?

>> Short-term thinking, not thinking long term.

You know, life is a marathon, not a sprint.

They're thinking about now.

I always talk to people and say, "What's your plan for 10 to 15 years?

Can you do what you're doing right now?

What's your job right now?

Is your job going to be around?"

I ask the students that.

"Is your job going to be around in the next couple of years?"

I say, "How the world is moving, will you even be needed?"

And we have to take that cliché out of community, the black community -- "I don't need an education."

You cannot make it in this world without some type of education.

And we really have to reinforce with people, "You have to go to school to get a blue-collar certification or training, or you have to go to white collar.

You have to go into these demand fields because you won't be able to afford," as you see now, with the inflation and everything.

I ask people, "How can you afford to take care of yourself and your family if you don't have the proper skill set?"

And usually if you don't have it, you become homeless.

And, you know, homelessness is on the rise.

So, preparing and thinking about "What do I need to major in?

What skill set?"

will save you.

But you cannot make it in this world -- I don't care who you are -- without some type of education.

>> What's been the response?

You got a great message.

>> Mm-hmm.

>> I want to know how responsive are young people when they hear you give them the truth that you give them?

Has it been a positive response?

>> Not really.

They'll say, "Well, I make $25 an hour."

I say, "You make $25 an hour."

I said, "You are what we call 'repetitive worker.'

You're doing one thing, one thing, and another -- one thing."

I said, "We can put use a collaborative robot to work with you and get rid of you.

What are you going to do?"

I say, "You're not going to start at $25 at another facility."

I said, "Now you're back at square one."

I said, "What's your next thing?"

"Well, I'll figure something out."

I said, "You can't figure stuff out like you used to."

As I keep continuously stating, the world is moving very, very fast.

I said, "You have to take your life in your own hands and find something to do that can make you profitable.

You can't sell drugs.

You can't hustle.

It's real out here."

And even for myself, I find myself, when I wake up every day, "How can I stay ahead of the curve, stay competitive?"

because just like I'm in my position, somebody else wants to be here, too.

So, it's always thinking, never getting cocky, never getting arrogant.

Everything could be gone tomorrow.

You have to really think about your life and your future and where do you see yourself at?

>> When you go back to your hometown in South Carolina, are you seeing progress?

>> No.

They already closed -- we had a facility called Dayco.

They built belts for facilities and vehicles, like the serpentine-system belts on the cars that when you crank it up.

They are already closed.

They closed in December 2020.

And we used to have a place -- it's still there -- Dixie-Narco -- that built soda machines.

>> So, where do people work?

>> They don't work.

They don't have anywhere to work.

Most of the people only have a high school diploma.

That's the big problem.

They made $12 an hour.

Let's say you made $12 to $15 an hour for 15 years.

If you never reinvested in yourself, and you're like, "This job is always going to be here."

You know, most people, once they lay them off, they'll take the package or say, "Hey, they're going to pay me unemployment for nine months."

But when you're 45 years old, you have a family to raise.

It's hard for you to go back and get additional skills.

So, many of those people can't even afford to drive to another adjacent city.

So, now you're really stuck.

And it's all because "I'm not trying to prepare" and just thinking stuff was always going to stay the same.

>> Dr. Patrick Dicks, five years from now, where do you want to be?

>> I see myself in the political aspect, trying to change policies and stuff.

That's where I see -- definitely alive, for one, and being in the political spectrum.

I see a lot going on.

>> Public policy?

>> Public policy, federal policy.

I see a lot of problems.

And when I travel, and I look at people's faces, I just see the dismay on people's faces.

People really want to work and be able to provide for themselves.

But we really have to help people that are really trying.

And that's why I really want to get into the political world.

>> Alright.

So, you gonna run for office?

>> Yeah, definitely.

Yes.

>> South Carolina?

>> Governor, president, all of that.

>> Dr. Patrick Dicks, thank you for joining "The Chavis Chronicles."

>> Thank you so much for inviting me, Dr. Chavis.

I appreciate it.

>> For more information about "The Chavis Chronicles" and our guests, please visit our website at TheChavisChronicles.com.

Also, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok.

Major funding for "The Chavis Chronicles" is provided by the following.

At Wells Fargo, we are committed to diversity and understand our responsibility in supporting and empowering diverse communities.

Diversity and inclusion is integral to the way we work.

Supporting the financial health of our diverse customers and employees is one of the many ways we remain invested in inclusion for all today, tomorrow, and in the future.

American Petroleum Institute -- through the core elements of API's Energy Excellence Program, our members are committed to accelerating safety, environmental and sustainability progress throughout the natural-gas and oil industry in the U.S. and around the world.

You can learn more at api.org/apiEnergyExcellence.

Reynolds American, dedicated to building a better tomorrow for our employees and communities.

Reynolds stands against racism and discrimination in all forms and is committed to building a more diverse and inclusive workplace.

At AARP, we are committed to empowering people to choose how they live as they age.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪