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A new meeting tool buzzes your watch when you have been speaking for longer than anyone else in the room. Early users say it is humbling, and one company reported its meetings got twenty minutes shorter overnight. Critics say it will punish the people who finally found the courage to speak.
Workplace software vendors are selling tools that analyse typing rhythm and message tone to flag employees who may be stressed, disengaged or about to quit. Companies say it is about wellbeing. Employees who found out say it feels like being watched by a lie detector all day.
A large multi-country trial of the four-day working week reported that almost every participating company chose to keep the shorter week once the study finished. Staff reported lower burnout and better sleep, while revenue held steady or rose across most of the firms. The catch is that the model worked best in offices and struggled in shift-based and customer-facing industries.
Across Africa, Asia and other parts of the world, ordinary workers and small-business owners are increasingly using AI for practical everyday jobs rather than futuristic technology projects. People are using it for hiring, marketing, pricing, sales analysis, translation, business planning and tasks that previously required more time or specialist knowledge. The bigger question is becoming less about whether people will use AI and more about which parts of our jobs we're comfortable handing over to it.