'Death of the office' exaggerated despite homeworking boom

PA Consulting's Lee Howells, an automation and AI expert, is quoted in a special AI & Robotics report on how AI-driven technology is accelerating the shift towards home working. The piece discusses how the COVID-19 lockdown has forced millions of employees to adapt to working remotely, and says this trend is expected to continue well after the pandemic subsides. Companies such as Facebook and Twitter are moving towards making working from home the norm -- a shift enabled by artificial intelligence-driven telecommuting. However, the article goes on to recognise the potential of homeworking to cause mental stress, with many employees noting "video call fatigue" and craving real human interaction. Lee predicts that the lockdown will accelerate the development and use of AI tools to monitor and manage the mental wellbeing of remote workers.