The opportunity to rehumanise work

AND SCROLL DOWN: hundreds of UK firms sign up for a 4-day week

I speak to a surprising number of anti-AI absolutists. They see nothing good will ever come from it. I seem to be seeing different things to them meaning that I strongly disagree. For example I got real value out of using this prompt (and adding variations of it):

I asked Google’s Gemini that question - take a look here, tweak it and re-run it a few times. I was impressed with how it leaned into the brief of connecting different spheres. Amongst the answers I received were about language and music and between the human microbiome and mental health.

In the same vein whether you think this Deepseek poem has good parts to it will probably depend on your priors rather than judging it at face value:

Is it perfect? No. But it’s also not nothing.

Last week I spoke at an event hosted by media agency PHD about whether we should be optimistic about the future of work.

Ahead of time I spent a lot of time wrestling with my own thoughts on the topic. It’s hard not to be gloomy (at best) or even a little terrified (at worst) about what is set to come in the future. Even the present can be a downer (as evidenced in the links below). But I was reminded of Douglas Adams’ rules for technology:

We’re certainly seeing evidence for this. Amongst college students there is 100% usage of AI reported. Amongst workers the regular adoption is significantly lower, two thirds of workers saying they never use it. Most people who report upskilling in using AI say they are learning the skills in their own time because they aren’t being served by their organisations.

Younger workers see opportunities ahead. The rest of us see peril.

But while we’re all battle weary from job cuts and a bleak news cycle there’s a moment for us to think about what is really to come and the opportunity it presents.

Recently when asked what he would advise young people to study in their education, Sam Altman said the most important talents would be soft skills. Filling in the gaps between human and machine.

This is the opportunity for enlightened organisations to steal a march. Yes, sure we’re seeing herding in corporate behaviour right now. Corporate contagion first of job cuts, then of RTO policies and latterly cancelling DEI programs.

I chatted to someone last week who works in the country’s best loved food chain, a brand with huge customer love. She told me that they were obsessed with workplace culture because it created a straight line through to creating happy customers.

Yes, AI might change the composition of our jobs. The firms using it might have to adapt to using it in their every day work. But there’s an upside to this refocussing, business thrives best when firms seek to differentiate from their competitors, not to emulate them. Good culture creates happy customers.

The promise of AI is that as Altman says organisations can focus on the aspects of their service that are human and memorable. We need to channel a little of Douglas Adams perspective. The road ahead presents us the opportunity to rehumanise our work and to create energised workplace cultures. We just need to be bold enough to try.

• Two hundred UK companies have signed up for a permanent four-day week

• Nearly half of all hybrid workers (46%) say they’d probably quit their jobs if they were forced back to the office full-time

• I always like seeing the annual report about freelancers put together by Leapers. This year includes some serious revelations:

  • A third of freelancers didn't choose to be freelance - but improvised their way into it

  • I've always seen freelancers as independent and confident, but in fact 90% of them felt a lack of confidence at work in 2024

  • A third of freelancers frequently felt lonely at work 33% in 2024

  • The full report is here. Definitely worth checking out

• An interesting Reddit thread of workers in the US government responding to Trump’s attempt to fire them all

• I know the world of work can seem bleak right now. The criticism of DEI seems spite-filled and angry, seeking to minimise the importance of it where in fact only 9% of workers say they haven’t experienced some degree of discrimination at work. It’s certainly true that DEI programs have struggled to change bias and to reduce prejudice. I liked this HBR article about how we might move forwards with inclusion initiatives from here. Based on the response to the last 2 weeks I strongly expect employees to become more vocal in wanting these initiatives to continue

Trigger warning: the bleak stuff is below

• Meta employees are ignoring threats of being fired and are coming forwards to tell journalists what is happening inside the organisation. Reports from inside the company report a growing amount of dissent to Zuckerberg’s leadership

• The US President blamed the DC helicopter crash on DEI despite both pilots and the air traffic controllers being straight white males and despite the audio recording showing that it was a mix-up

• Yes, I’m sure no country we know will sink into being a totalitarian state but the tell to be looking for is voluntary obedience. Google changing the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America in Google Maps - voluntary obedience. Amazon deleting support for LGBT rights and ‘equity for black people’ from their website - voluntary obedience. When big firms start quietly going along with norm changing it makes the transition to a different place move more easily.