Commentary: A meeting a day keeps the robots away

STEP AWAY FROM THE COMPUTER

Let’s hope this does not mean that the future white-collar professional will just sit in back-to-back meetings arguing about what AI has produced. I suspect there will still be a need for human experts to do computer-based work.

But to the extent that we see ourselves as in competition with AI, then the best strategy is surely to add some value to one’s computer-based work that large language models cannot. We, after all, can step away from our screens, enter the embodied world, form and sustain relationships, and find out information that does not exist on the internet.

That will require us to unlearn some habits we developed in recent decades in the name of “getting more done”. The phone call that saved the need to meet. The email that saved the need to call. The Slack message that saved the need to email.

I am perhaps predisposed to this advice because my own role has always rewarded stepping away from the computer. Since time immemorial, editors have admonished reporters: “If you’re sitting at your desk all day, you’re not doing your job properly.”

But to some extent, the same is true of many professional jobs, and will become more so over time.

Which brings us back to Suleyman’s prediction. I tend to take a dim view of AI “exposure” scores, but as a personal rule of thumb, “what proportion of the day did I spend glued to my computer?” is probably a useful metric to keep an eye on.

So steer away from employers who conflate “bums on seats” with productivity (especially if they monitor desk occupancy, mouse movements and keystrokes). Swap the sandwich at your laptop for a meal with a contact or colleague. And stop resenting all the meetings you have – they might just be keeping the robots at bay.