Future work is about vibes
What is the future of work?
To some, there is no work and we’re all doomed. My personal belief is optimism and that humans will adapt and thrive.
Regardless though, its impossible to avoid the AI narrative at the moment. Not only is AI “taking” our jobs, its happening much sooner than we think!
In conversations I’ve had, they hold the view that the quality of AI is still terrible and that they’re fine. This can be true for sure, but the rate of acceleration is so fast that if you stop using the various tools and systems for a month or two, you’re behind on whats possible.
So for sure, to some it mightn’t feel like it, but if you actually look you can start to see early signs that large scale societal change is upon us.
Whilst I do think its going to happen faster than we think, there is a part of me which ponders on the reality that theres already a large portion of the working population that implicitly chooses inefficiency over efficiency.
Businesses choose this too (this seems to be the “bullshit jobs” thesis that David Graeber wrote a book on).
Not all of these businesses and people are unsuccessful or low paid. Said another way, they could persist in this mode without AI for a long time, though at some point you will be out competed, whether on price, service or skillset.
In any case, this is an evolving discussion that is taking up more oxygen as the everyday employee becomes more anxious, wondering what they can do.
What I do find interesting though is in a world of AI abundance, where ideas and velocity will form part of a winning formula, what then is the optimal work environment. If you don't actually "need anyone"?
If thousands more smaller companies get formed, you won’t hire people because of their skills, you'll hire them because of their vibe. AI has the skills. People bring the vibes.
From a skills POV, What will be table stakes at this time is the persons ability to manage, coordinate and understand AI systems - like managing a team today in many ways. If you don’t have these basic skills, you will still be unhirable of course.
(Good) vibes create an environment where creativity is elevated. motivation rises. The ability to "have fun" with something is all in a days work. To some this may exist today and I've experienced days like this working in companies, but you still need to get all the grunt work done.
It seems that so many people find work today very monotonous, which stifles their motivation, innovation and willingness to enjoy their time working. Becoming the conductor of an AI orchestra may remove this monotony and leave in its place creative freedom people didn’t know they had.
I guess you already see this in small start-ups today - the founding team is predominately based on culture and vibe fit. If you’re deep in the trenches trying to build something out of nothing, you want to be doing it with people that bring the “good vibe” energy.
So then, perhaps my thinking is that in the future, more companies will become like early stage start-ups and we’ll see less large corporations.
Future work is all about vibes.
P.S.
This post is more stream of consciousness on this topic than a deeply thought out idea. Would love to hear from you if you think I’m wrong or have a differing view
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