Invited by the Athens Chamber of Commerce and Industry, voice of more than 120,000 Greek companies, and Yannis Mastrogeorgiou, Special Secretary for Strategic Foresight at the Presidency of the Government of the Hellenic Republic.
Matthew GriffinFounder, President and Futurist, 311 Institute
G7 · G20governments advised
850+keynotes
102countries
17codexes
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The host's verdict
Exactly what we had in mind.
Athens Chamber of Commerce
Dimitrios Dimitriou, First Vice President of the Athens Chamber of Commerce and Industry, which represents more than 120,000 Greek companies, and Yannis Mastrogeorgiou, Special Secretary for Strategic Foresight at the Presidency of the Government of the Hellenic Republic, invited Matthew to Athens to give a keynote titled The Future of Work and AI.
The topic has moved to the top of the agenda for governments, organisations and individuals because of the rapid, but not unforeseen, rise of AI and generative AI. Matthew explained that today's capabilities already point to partially or fully automating up to 80% of jobs, and that in time AI, generative AI and artificial general intelligence, together with technologies such as generalised robotics, could automate 100%, because every job is made of processes, workflows and steps.
"In time we can see a way to use AI, as well as artificial general intelligence, to automate 100% of jobs, primarily because all jobs have processes, workflows and steps that can be automated."Matthew Griffin, Athens, April 2024
Rather than lean into the doomsday narratives common in the press, he looked at both sides of the coin. Drawing on his work on the Future of Education, Learning and Work, he set the downsides and risks of automation against the very real human and societal benefits of using the same tools to augment people, creating what he calls 'Unlimited Humans' with near unlimited potential.
He covered the future capabilities of AI, Sam Altman's vision of fully automated companies, and the risks companies face as they embed an autonomous AI brain at the heart of their operations. He closed on the importance of a Futures Mindset, and on what happens when everyone has access to all the world's knowledge and skills and can bring whatever they imagine to life, at speed and scale, for a global audience by the end of the day.
311 Intelligence
What this means for your leadership team
Map work as processes, not job titles.
Matthew showed that every job is a set of processes, workflows and steps. That is where automation lands first.
Invest in augmentation as well as automation.
The same AI that automates tasks can create Unlimited Humans. Organisations that only cut costs miss the bigger gain.
Govern the AI at the centre of the business.
Embedding an autonomous AI brain at the heart of operations brings new risks that boards need to own.
Three questions for your next leadership meeting
Which of our workflows could AI automate in the next three years?
Where could AI make our people more capable rather than replace them?
Who owns the risk if AI runs part of our operations?
The trends and technologies behind this session
From the 311 Starburst, the 311 Strategic Intelligence Unit’s map of the technologies and trends shaping the next 50 years.
Matthew argued that today's capabilities point to automating up to 80% of jobs partially or fully, and that in time AI could automate 100%.
What is the job automation trend?
The 311 Starburst tracks AI and robots reshaping work as employers automate tasks across office and factory jobs, and rates it Act now.
When will artificial general intelligence arrive?
Artificial general intelligence is a machine that could do any thinking task a person can. The 311 Starburst expects wide use around 2033.
How can 311 brief our leadership team on this?
Through a private executive briefing or leadership workshop, tailored to your sector, in person first.
Bring this to your leadership teamA private executive briefing or leadership workshop, tailored to your sector. In person first, anywhere in the world.
Analysis by the 311 Strategic Intelligence Unit, from Matthew Griffin’s session and 311 data.
If Matthew gave this session today
One person now directs the work of many.
311 Institute's latest research finds a heavy AI user already directs about 18 full-time people's worth of work for $180 a month. The question for leaders is no longer whether AI changes work, but who directs it and who keeps the value.
