AI: Meet the new boss?

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Will artificial intelligence eventually kill off the in-person office? That’s the feeling among many employees responding to a recent survey, which raises the specter of many ending up working for AI bosses.

The recent survey of 2,500 employees and executives, released by GoTo, finds 51% of employees say AI “will make physical offices obsolete in the future.”

There are many workers who already answer to algorithms in their daily work – Uber drivers and InstaCart delivery people being prime examples. Then there are the AI-powered tools and platforms office workers now use, including applications for collaboration and meetings, generative AI tools, virtual assistants, and AI-enabled IT support platforms. In addition, 62% of employees in the GoTo survey still say they’d even prefer AI-enhanced remote working over working in the office.

However, rumors of the physical office’s death may be exaggerated, industry observers suggest. “The idea of AI as a new boss is interesting, but I see a different, more nuanced reality emerging,” said Dr. Tiffany Perkins-Munn, author and head of marketing data and analytics at J.P. Morgan Chase. “While an algorithm can efficiently manage goal-oriented tasks, I see its role for office work evolving into more of a co-pilot.”

With or without AI, there has been pushback against the concept of total remote workplaces. “We are seeing a very interesting shift – the recent scandals with remote works, such as overwork culture, and fear of losing their moat has caused many companies and VCs to shift back to a hybrid or location-based jobs,” said Yashin Manraj, chief executive officer at Pvotal Technologies Inc., which has been running remotely for the past seven years.

“Eight years ago, I would have said the vision to be fully remote is the future,” Manraj continued. “But the amount of fraud we have personally observed – fake CVs, candidate switching after interviews, and people abandoning their job after one or two paychecks – I think it will be hard to trust a fully remote ecosystem with the new generation.”

With any movement toward AI-driven workplaces will be a need for greater transparency. “With the advent of AI in the workplace, there is going to be a larger focus on a show-your-work mentality, especially for remote roles,” said Dan Hickey, director of operations at Halo Recruiting. “Companies are realizing that remote workers are using AI to complete finished deliverables and don’t mind as long as the chain of prompts and AI assistance is documented. This provides an understanding of how the work was completed and where the delineation between human and computer took place.”

Such a delineation may be seen between the routine and the higher-level cognitive. “AI will increasingly handle routine, administrative tasks, freeing human workers to focus on the high-impact work that requires empathy, creativity, and ethical judgment — things AI can’t do,” said Perkins-Munn. “We’re already seeing this in offices where workers use AI tools to streamline daily to-dos, or keep them organized by managing their calendar and sending reminder notifications for meetings.”

At the same time, “I can understand how there might be some pushback, particularly regarding the debate over the value of human connection, collaboration, and shared culture that remote work doesn’t often allow for,” said Perkins-Munn. “There’s a real tension there, and it has been since remote work started exploding in 2020, but I think AI can help bridge this gap.”

The likely scenario is “less about taking orders from a machine as your new boss and instead using that machine to ask more strategic questions and optimize workflows for the digital age,” she added.

Also important is the fact that most companies will not be all-remote or all-on-premises. “With AI tools, we don’t have to debate between remote versus in-office work. We can use the tech to our advantage and create a hybrid of the two that works best for us and our companies. It doesn’t have to be all or nothing, nor does it have to be a company-wide policy. With the right tools and tech, employees can create a routine catered to their individual work style. Not only is this a great way to improve efficiency and productivity, but it also increases workplace satisfaction and employee retention.”

It’s so far, so good, the GoTo survey suggests. Most employees — including in-office workers — say AI would give them more flexibility and work-life balance (71%), allow them to work anywhere without losing productivity (66%), and help them better serve customers while working remotely (65%). Their leaders are even more likely to report positive impacts, with 9 out of 10 agreeing that AI has improved these outcomes for their employees when they’re remote.