“There is no AI in Team”. A workday diary from 2030.

Adding colour to my five predictions for the future of work, we follow the day of an imaginary office worker in 2030.

I recently posted five predictions on the AI-enabled workplace of the future. But what will AI-enabled work actually feel like?

The habits that enable us to get things done will remain unchanged. However, disruptive technologies tend to create new norms until eventually, working environments feel entirely different.

Let’s add some colour to our musings and follow the day of an imaginary office worker in 2030. How is AI impacting her work and her team - and how is she managing through it all?

Good morning. What’s on today?

Like most mornings, this one started by finding my inboxes “already handled.” Like most mornings, I had some sanity-checking to do. No, I would not congratulate my divorced client on their wedding anniversary, and no, I do not need a hotel for a cancelled trip. Still, the majority of emails and messages were correctly filed or responded to, so I moved swiftly on.

Pre-drafted reports next: glossy, well-formatted and dotted with AI surrealism. Despite the training, the juniors still allow too many AI-isms to slip through. My manager felt there was mileage to his joke of juniors having juniors. Drafts were corrected and sent to the Compliance bots.

Late morning: All-hands

The All-hands began with some briskness. Questions about our AI facilitators dominated the conversation, with colleagues inquiring why they frequently interrupted people mid-sentence. Must every discussion feel like a speed-dating round?

Management assured us this “enhances efficiency,” though details were not forthcoming. When someone suggested that we try a more polite setting, the AI facilitator flagged the question as off-topic and moved us on. Not all of the ensuing memes were in good humour.

Early afternoon: Case work

I was assigned a case that required working through a large dataset. My initial prompts yielded only superficial results and obvious metrics, but after further prompting, I uncovered an interesting correlation with another case. The bot confirmed the maths, and my manager confirmed the bot.

The AI facilitator was in fine form in the team meeting that followed. When a colleague misunderstood a key assumption, the AI called “consensus” and tried to move us forward. After some fiddling, the facilitator agreed to let us disagree for a while longer. Teaming up against our software is great teamwork.

Late afternoon: Workshop

The draft report arrived back from Compliance, still glossy and still dotted with AI-isms. Nonetheless, the main points were correct, so after some back-and-forth, we had a final version in time for the workshop.

With the facilitator set to Workshop mode, the session felt more relaxed. Management had been allocated plenty of time for “scene setting”, and we had enough time to present the Report. “Sadly”, that left almost no time for Q&A, so when the AI facilitator demanded an outcome, the Report was quickly approved.

So, how was your day?

Looking at my messages on the way home, I spotted a few congrats about getting the report approved so quickly. Some were curious about the settings I used, especially in relation to time allocation tactics.

As usual, someone allowed an unchecked AI suggestion to creep in - apparently, “there is no A in Team”. Not all of the ensuing memes were in good humour. That’s why juniors can’t have juniors, I guess.