Closing the loop

On using AI as an objective third-party

This past Friday in San Francisco, we hosted the second edition of Work in Progress, a growing community of inspiring leaders with wide-ranging perspectives on the evolution of work from their experience as organizational design experts, workplace architects, current or former people leaders, academics, independent workers across several functions, as well as investors and entrepreneurs.

My primary motivation for building the community is to co-create the new vocabulary required to fundamentally alter our relationship to work, both collectively and as individuals. All three working groups made a list of overused, confusing and misappropriated language related to work. Words matter and carry both positive and negative connotations, sometimes even stigma (like “fractional” or “gig” workers). In other cases, they create a sense of belonging (for “Googlers” or “Amazonians”). In any situation, even if the proper vocabulary exists, communication skills remain critically important beyond using the right words.

Engagement was high and the richness of the discussions energizing. We will be sharing a comprehensive debrief over the coming weeks. In the meantime, one idea emerged over the course of our dialogue that particularly intrigued me.

While the bulk of the AI public discourse has revolved around how to use the technology to unlock our uniquely human qualities, what if AI could be used in rooms where these same human qualities might actually be preventing humans from resolving conflict or maintaining objectivity (for example during performance reviews)? The idea of leveraging AI as an objective third-party to help humans communicate better is intriguing (and yes flawed or seemingly unattainable). If you are working on innovative solutions related to that idea, please email me here and/or fill out this form. I look forward to hearing from you!