Forget return-to-office. Hybrid now means human plus AI

For the past few years, “hybrid work” has meant splitting time between home and office. And for the most part, people like it—flexibility, fewer commutes, more balance. But there’s a new hybrid model on the rise, and it has nothing to do with geography.

As Artificial Intelligence is woven into the fabric of business alongside humans and begins to help support human workloads, the future of hybrid work won’t only be defined by where we work, but by how we work together with our AI counterparts. As Agentic AI enters a more mature phase, organizations are moving beyond experimentation to ask deeper questions: How does AI complement human strengths? What does meaningful collaboration between people and machines realistically look like? How can AI reach its full potential to drive business value? (Hint: it’s not going to do it all by itself.)

The future of work isn’t about automating humans out of their jobs (although some jobs will become obsolete); it’s about augmenting people’s skills with technology that helps them be faster, better, and more efficient than they could be on their own. In the not-too-distant future, hybrid roles will be defined as part human, part AI, where technology enhances the judgment, creativity, and efficiency of its human counterpart.

What’s the Worst that can Happen?

From apocalyptic headlines to late-night TV jokes about being replaced by robots, it can be easy to find signs of AI anxiety.

According to an independent market survey conducted for Concentrix of 1,000 US consumers aged 18 and up, 51% of people would characterize themselves as somewhat familiar with autonomous decision-making or agentic AI. There is work to be done to bring everyone up to speed on what AI’s purpose is, and isn’t.

When asked about whether Agentic AI will have a positive or negative impact on the future of work, 36% saw the glass half full with a somewhat to mostly positive view that AI will be helpful, but acknowledged that there are risks; 31% of respondents stood in the glass half empty crowd with a somewhat to mostly negative sentiment, saying AI could introduce job losses and ethical issues. Public opinion remains divided, reflecting the uncertainty among workers in the market.

Beyond simple efficiencies

For now, AI is just starting to prove its worth by helping people with tedious or time-consuming tasks, like helping write important emails, summarizing meetings, and producing (simple) reports.

But the reality is that these days won’t last long—companies are already moving on from low-hanging efficiencies toward revenue growth and innovation. Forward-thinking companies are shaking things up by challenging their workforce’s skills and tech-savviness and revamping their internal operations to be AI-centric, actively shifting from Prompt-Engineering to Agentic Engineering (Prompts + Data integration), instead of just slapping in chatbots and calling it a day.

Companies that struggle with adoption of AI are often going about it the wrong way. They have been looking for places where AI can automate a task or replace a human, rather than enhance the experience of a journey or workflow. They have been piloting AI projects and arbitrarily cutting humans out of the loop, oftentimes with disastrous effects.

AI won’t replace you, but someone using it better, will

The biggest mistake companies make when implementing AI? Using it to replace people instead of empowering them.

The next evolution is for companies to stop thinking about how to replace human employees with AI, and start thinking about how AI can augment human labor—and vice versa. AI needs humans to thrive, and humans will thrive with AI. If AI can take care of the low-hanging fruit of a person’s workload, the human is then freed to do more contextual, empathetic, and strategic thinking. There is tremendous value in the human experience that improves business outcomes in ways that AI cannot do alone.

Understanding of how emotion, context, and humor play into everyday life, is where humans excel. Emotional Intelligence (EQ) may well be the perfect companion to augment AI’s speed and efficiency, and we haven’t begun to discover what we’re capable of when we truly embrace the potential of the hybrid world.

Interpretation and integration

While some jobs that aren’t as heavily reliant on EQ to be successful may be automated, AI is already creating new opportunities for people who can interpret, manage, and integrate AI-driven technologies. 

The hybrid jobs of tomorrow are starting to be found in a variety of industries. In healthcare, the AI-Assisted Healthcare Professional will help doctors and nurses use AI to enhance diagnostics, personalize treatment plans, and manage patient data effectively, to lead to better patient outcomes.

Designers who have woven AI technologies into the user interfaces have created better user experiences. Creative professionals who have used AI to rapidly create music, marketing content, and movie making are in demand. We’re only seeing the beginning of hybrid jobs—human imagination will define those that come next.

Your AI coworker just dropped you a message, don’t leave it unread

What will it take for humans to build trust in Agentic AI? Exactly half (50%) of survey respondents said greater human insight and ability to intervene is a good place to start. They want proof of AI’s accuracy and reliability over time (42%). And they desire more regulatory oversight (41%).

These findings tell us that people are ready to embrace a more integrated, collaborative approach to AI, but they desire a trusted human counterpart to have peace of mind that AI’s not in charge, it’s part of a hybrid work team.

Time to go out and make friends with your AI colleague.

https://www.fastcompany.com/91333920/forget-return-to-office-hybrid-now-means-human-plus-ai-human-and-ai-hybrid-work?partner=rss&utm_source=rss&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=rss+fastcompany&utm_content=rss