Artificial Intelligence and the Future Workplace

Technological innovation has profoundly impacted where and how people work. In the early 20th century, elevators and steel frame construction revolutionized the modern office building. Today the internet and mobile computing have fundamentally altered people’s relationship to the office. The proliferation of artificial intelligence and machine learning will further transform the nature of work and the workplace.

Artificial intelligence will change the composition of the workforce and the workday in three important ways:

• Automation: Some clerical roles will be replaced with technology, changing workforce demographics and requirements for office space.
• Augmentation: AI will help many knowledge workers to complete tasks more quickly and effectively, allowing them to spend less time at a keyboard and more time in collaboration.
• Adaptation: As these changes occur, the traditional workplace will require new solutions and re-thinking of space programming, amenities and location. Technology can help companies adapt to changing needs.

Adoption of AI will likely have a net-positive effect on employment over time. Some jobs will be eliminated in favor of increasingly proficient computers, while a larger number of skilled jobs may also be created. This is consistent with historical technological development: People once manually operated telephone switchboards before the shift to automated switchboards. While automation made certain jobs obsolete, it also necessitated the creation of many other jobs in telecommunications and related fields.

With AI, increasingly complex business tasks will become fully automated. This will mean a noticeable reduction in clerical and customer service roles. For example, AI tools are already replacing call center workers for many routine tasks. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics expects this trend to continue, projecting declines of 5% in customer service positions and 10% in secretarial positions by 2032.¹ At the same time, the need for technology specialists and other professionals will continue to grow, leading to overall employment growth.

Figure 1: Employment Trends for Selected Occupations, 2022-2032

Changes in employment patterns, particularly the disproportionate growth of highly skilled workers, will necessitate changes to office layouts and amenities. As average education levels and salaries rise, office workers will expect a better workplace experience. To attract and retain skilled workers, organizations need to accommodate those evolving expectations.

Augmentation refers to harnessing technology to help people work more efficiently and effectively. In one example, the typewriter replaced handwriting and increased writing speed and legibility. Today’s AI-based virtual assistants support a variety of writing skills, from research to proofreading. As technology advances, computers will assist with a growing number of business tasks. This shift will mean a fundamental change in many workers’ roles. Less time will be needed for routine and administrative work, allowing more attention to creative and collaborative work.

Figure 2: Average Screen Time (Hours)

Today, some adults report as much as 10 hours of screen time per day. Business correspondence and meetings are mediated by screen-based devices. While digital technology will remain the backbone of most information flow, modes of communication and collaboration are evolving due to augmentative technology. Voice recognition and natural-language processing are freeing more workers from the tyranny of the keyboard. Hands-free technology gives workers more ability to interact with people instead of machines. In the future, sharing ideas and collaborating will be done with the help of a variety of technology and devices, rather than simply a computer. Collectively these tools will afford greater mobility and flexibility, shifting the locus of work away from the fixed desk.

As augmentative AI takes hold in the workplace, many workers will spend less time engaged in static, individual work at the office. Hybrid work is already changing how workers use the office, making it more of a place for connection and interaction. Widespread use of AI will give workers more time for collaboration, emphasizing the need for different kinds of spaces.

Workspaces continue to change over time with the advent of new technology. The electric light, the telephone and the personal computer each had major influences on the design and use of offices. Artificial intelligence will have similar sweeping effects on our built environment.

In the near term, AI adoption will fuel two trends: improving the quality of space and increasing the amount of collaboration space.

Greater focus on quality. Recent efforts by employers to attract workers back to the office have highlighted the importance of a quality workplace experience. Occupancy rates and rents for the best buildings have significantly outperformed commodity properties. AI increases the need for highly skilled workers and will drive demand for better quality of individual workspaces, building amenities and locations.

Figure 3: Office Trends: Space Allocation

Collaboration space. The pandemic showed that some work can be done from anywhere, while reinforcing the high value of in-person collaboration and interaction. As hybrid work patterns stabilize, the balance of work done at the office is shifting away from individual tasks. Today’s workers may spend parts of their day in focused work, formal meetings, quick collaboration and connecting informally. These multiple modes of activity highlight the need for a variety of spaces. Occupiers are reallocating space to support this trend, with some CBRE clients increasing their share of office collaboration space by 44% in just two years. The importance of the office as a place for connection will grow even further as AI and related technology allow workers to dedicate more time to interaction.

Figure 4: Workplace Change Strategy

Adaptation tools. To navigate the evolving landscape of space needs, organizations must start with knowledge of space occupancy and effectiveness. Occupancy sensors and other data provide a deep understanding of space utilization and can reveal characteristics that drive demand for certain spaces. Top organizations also use surveys and benchmarking tools to monitor employee sentiment and to evaluate the competitiveness of their space. Combining this information with predictive analytics makes the data truly actionable.

Armed with advanced software, occupancy managers can anticipate demand in real time. This forecasting enables organizations to adjust their supply of space, including through the use of flex space. Meaningful forecasts go beyond the basics of how many seats are needed and extend to qualitative factors affected by changes in workforce composition and job roles. Then organizations can adjust how space is organized and managed to best meet evolving needs.

Artificial intelligence will fundamentally change how we work. Workforce composition will be permanently altered as computers take on many tasks performed by humans today. The average worker will have higher expectations about the caliber of space they work in and will need more collaboration space to work seamlessly. The workplace will need to evolve to remain relevant and stimulate innovation, creativity and inspiration. Savvy organizations are already monitoring these trends and are well-positioned to meet the moment as emerging technology indelibly alters the landscape of work.