Silicon Republic's Future of Work Week has an interesting set of articles on this topic. It covers pretty much all the standard future of work topics like AI, digital transformation, the changing nature of careers, etc.
But what caught our eye was how many of the articles focused on or mentioned the importance of humanness or "being human".
Examples of articles including this theme include:
Now is the time to bring humanity back to the workplace
How will our working patterns change with the future of work?
Inside Accenture’s experimental office space at The Dock
Hays’ Sandra Henke wants you to be your authentic self
In a robot revolution, embrace your humanity and curiosity about the future
In 2012 we included "Being Human" in our Top 10 Small Business Trends list. We described the trend as "the growing dissatisfaction with our de-humanized world."
We went on to say:
Corporate employees tell us they are tired of being cogs in the enterprise machine. Consumers tell us they are looking for authenticity and honesty from the companies they buy from. People in general tell us they are focusing more (or would like to focus more) on human relationships with their families, friends, business associates and communities.
We got a lot of feedback on this trend.
Most of it made fun of it and/or questioned why a data driven firm like ours would include something so squishy as "being human".
We were also told this is hardly a new and several people pointed out Charlie Chaplin's 1936 movie Modern Times covered this trend.
We agree it's not new.
But as the Silicon Republic series points out, the more computers, AI and digitization enter our work and lives, the more important focusing on the things that make us human becomes.
And we have no problem covering the same ground as Chaplin did. Man versus machine is a theme that has cycled throughout history.
"Being Human" is already an important social trend and it will likely become more important in the coming years.
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