The Future of Work Isn't About Doing Less

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The future of work doesn't just have to be about brute force data, like how we improved people's joy 10% or we improved their enthusiasm 10%. Those could be important numbers that we're looking at. We want to do more meaningful stuff. I actually was remembering during COVID, I needed to take a vacation. So I took one day of the vacation and I did one room at a time and like just totally tore it apart and clean up. And it was so fulfilling and fun. That really transitions well to my next question because when we had Trevor Noah on the pod, his dream was to have four hour workdays. How would you think about that?

What if we had a copilot for every profession? Or if we had the capability to create digital clones of ourselves to pursue our creative projects? These prospects aren’t too far-fetched thanks to the latest developments in AI. What does the future of work actually look like? This week, Reid and Aria sat down with Jaime Teevan, Chief Scientist and Technical Fellow at Microsoft, and former technical advisor to CEO Satya Nadella. Leading Microsoft’s Future of Work Initiative, Jaime explores how everything from AI to hybrid work changes the way people get things done. Together, Jaime and our hosts discuss how we might best use AI, get a lot done with microtasks, and reimagine measures of productivity. Plus, GPT-4 and special guest stars share some neat stats and hot takes on the future of work.

Read the AI-generated stories for this episode here.

Read the transcript of this episode here.

For more info on the podcast and transcripts of all of the episodes, visit www.possible.fm/podcast.

Topics:

03:43 - Hellos and intros

04:36 - The viability of microproductivity

08:15 - How microproductivity is evolving with AI

12:01 - How the COVID-19 pandemic changed hybrid work

14:36 - What will we look back on and consider quaint in the future?

15:39 - GPT-4 story about using LLM clones for work

22:52 - But isn’t AI going to steal all our jobs?

25:38 - GPT-4 story about new jobs that will be common in the future

29:26 - Managing stress in the workplace

36:24 - Considering the 4-day work week model

39:48 - How to measure joy and engagement alongside productivity

46:10 - Rapidfire questions

51:35 - Debrief with Reid and Aria

Possible is a new podcast that sketches out the brightest version of the future—and what it will take to get there. Most of all, it asks: what if, in the future, everything breaks humanity's way? Hosted by Reid Hoffman and Aria Finger, each episode features an interview with a visionary from a different field: climate science, media, criminal justice, and more. The conversation also features another kind of guest: GPT-4, OpenAI’s latest and most powerful language model to date. Each episode has a companion story, generated by GPT-4, which will serve as a jumping-off point for a hopeful, speculative discussion about what humanity could possibly get right if we leverage technology—and our collective effort—effectively.

Possible is produced by Wonder Media Network and hosted by Reid Hoffman and Aria Finger. Our showrunner is Shaun Young. Possible is produced by Edie Allard and Sara Schleede. Jenny Kaplan is our Executive Producer and Editor. Special thanks to Caitlin Cummings, Katrina Zuccaro, Lauren Cole, Surya Yalamanchili, Saida Sapieva, Ian Alas, Greg Beato, and Ben Relles. Also, gratitude to Papia Debroy, Adam Grant, Ryan Roslansky, Jessi Hempel, and everyone who called in with their thoughts on the future of work.