How will AI change jobs? There are a lot of theories, and as of yet, scant conclusive evidence. However, if you did have to pick a 'canary in a coal mine' to understand the impact of generative AI on the future of work, one place to start would be the global freelance workforce. To understand how  machine intelligence might be influencing how freelancers get things done, I spoke with Matt Barrie, CEO of Freelancer.com, one of the world's leading online job marketplaces.

In Matt’s view, AI tools like ChatGPT and Midjourney allow freelancers to perform at a more elite level. Specifically, rather than substituting talent, AI is driving the workers on his platform to move "up the stack" and develop higher-level skills to remain relevant. 

While many current use cases for generative AI focus on incremental changes to worker productivity, we discussed the more disruptive potential of AI agents that can act autonomously on behalf of humans. This could have profound implications for organizations and society, as AI increasingly mediates our interactions and decisions.

5 Key Insights:

1. AI tools are enabling workers to perform at elite levels across various fields, necessitating a shift in how organizations structure their workforce.

2. The democratization of technology through AI is likely to spark a new wave of entrepreneurship and innovation.


3. Access to contemporary datasets is becoming crucial for maintaining a competitive edge in AI development.


4. Organizations need to prepare for a future where AI agents may handle many interactions and tasks autonomously.


5. There are significant security and privacy concerns associated with AI technologies that can create detailed digital representations of individuals.

Ben Waber is one of the world’s leading experts on people analytics and organizational culture. He is the founder of Humanyze and a visiting scientist at the MIT Media Lab. We caught up in Tokyo to discuss the future of work and the impact of large language models (LLMs) on productivity. 

In our discussion, Ben emphasizes the importance of considering systemic issues and inherent technological limitations when measuring productivity, arguing that companies often lack proper metrics for assessing the performance of knowledge workers. Despite the current hype around AI, we talked about the fundamental flaws of LLMs, such as their inability to reliably perform sequential reasoning and their lack of coherence, raising concerns about their application in critical areas like HR and legal departments.

Ben suggests that the most valuable work stems from interactions between people with diverse mindsets and experiences, as friction between different perspectives often leads to interesting ideas. He believes that technology should be used to shape these interactions creatively, both for individuals and organizations. While computational tools can assist in this process, humans will remain the driving force behind innovation for the foreseeable future.

5 Key Insights:

1. Task-level analysis of productivity is insufficient; consider systemic issues and the long-term impact of decisions on organizational outcomes.

2. LLMs have inherent limitations, such as the inability to reliably perform sequential reasoning and maintain coherence, making them unsuitable for tasks where truth and accuracy are critical.

3. Firing workers based on short-term productivity gains from LLMs may lead to long-term issues, as domain experts are best equipped to identify the tool's limitations.

4. Valuable work is probabilistic and often driven by interactions between people with diverse perspectives and experiences.

5. Technology should be used to foster creative interactions among employees, but humans will remain the primary source of innovation.

Workplace transformation has never been more important than now, in this time of crisis. So what does it take to build and sustain a culture that is not only innovative and creative, but capable handling constant reinvention? Is the fact that it is difficult and uncomfortable, the very reason we should do it anyway? Dr Adam Fraser is a human performance researcher and consultant who studies how organizations adopt a high performance culture to thrive in this challenging and evolving business landscape. He is the author of Strive: Embracing the gift of struggle and The Third Space: Using Life's Little Transitions to find Balance and Happiness.