AI: Speeding up in order to slow down

In a blog series for ArchiComm, Colliers creative director Geoffrey Timmer discusses current themes and issues that affect the process and culture within which designs are created. He sees the workplace and work environment as the terrain in which current themes quickly become visible or have a chance to unfold. The fourth contribution focuses on AI (Artificial Intelligence / Artificial Intelligence).

In the conversation about artificial intelligence (AI: Artificial Intelligence)much attention is paid to the threat the technology would pose to jobs. Certain jobs would disappear due to the use of AI. But, proponents counter, the technology will also create new jobs. I believe AI will empower workers more, to use a fancy management term.

When something piques my interest I tend to dive heavily into the subject in question. I watch documentaries, read books and take notes in the process. AI has been one such topic in recent months that I have spent a lot of time researching. And saving time is precisely something AI can help many (working) people with. Copilot from Microsoft, for example, helps users filter out the most important message from an email and with email drafting. ChatGPT Helps people write texts and Midjourney is a useful AI application for designers and illustrators, to name a few applications.  

Springboard for evolution in collaboration

With my team at Colliers, we don't just think about the aesthetics of a building and the ergonomic benefits of furniture. We are also often asked by clients to think about processes within a company. Since the functioning of (creative) teams within organizations has fascinated me since I graduated, I quickly saw the possibilities that AI offers as a springboard to move forward in the evolution of collaboration.

Right now, AI is already playing an important role on my team by taking on repetitive tasks that do not require our creative thinking skills. Creativity is what Cal Newport describes as slow productivity, because research and depth simply take time. In other words, by using AI in the right way, it can create space for thoughtful, creative and - very important for employees - meaningful efforts. Service models in which slow productivity and AI reinforcing each other will, in my opinion, determine the future of work.

A working day in the future

I have been thinking about what a workday would ideally look like in my future scenario. And I am aware that it will be different for every profession. But every job has repetitive chores, corvee, things we would rather outsource. Try "tagging" your day, subdividing it into different tasks. Administration, appointments, creativity and other categories. I would love it if the administration part gets smaller and smaller. This creates space, literally space in your upper room, so you can get more and more to the core of your tasks and get more out of your workday, including more satisfaction.

Because today's world is moving so fast, it is difficult to get into the slow productivitymode. As a result, we experience many tasks we perform as superficial and derive little satisfaction from them. Reading a piece in your news app and not an in-depth analysis, a text message to someone you love, not a good conversation, listening to a colleague with half an ear because a deadline is waiting. All obstacles to getting into a flow of slow productivity. So let's leverage technology and harness the speed of AI so we can slow down and slow down ourselves. In this way, we will make more meaningful contributions in the workplace, which also gives us more satisfaction.