We have spent the last few years asking a simple question:
“How can AI help me?”
Maybe we are starting to ask the wrong question.
The more interesting question might be:
“What would work look like if AI were actually part of my team?”
I came across Buzz, a new project from Block, and what caught my attention was not simply another AI tool or another chatbot.
It is the idea of putting humans and AI agents into the same workspace, where agents can participate alongside people rather than simply sitting outside the workflow waiting for someone to type a prompt.
That feels like a small change.
But I think it could represent a much bigger shift.
From AI Assistant to AI Coworker
The way most of us currently use AI is still quite simple:
Human → AI → Answer
We open ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini, ask something, receive an answer, and then take that answer back into our actual work.
The AI is useful, but it is still somewhat separate from the team.
What happens if we change the model to:
Human + AI → Collaboration
Instead of treating AI as a tool we occasionally use, we start treating AI agents as participants in our work.
That means an agent could potentially have its own identity, permissions, access to information and ability to perform tasks within a shared environment.
This is one of the ideas behind Buzz.
Block describes Buzz as a workspace where humans and agents can work together, with agents having identities and permissions and being able to participate in conversations, workflows and software development.
This Changes More Than the Chat Interface
For me, the interesting part isn't whether Buzz itself becomes the next big productivity platform.
The bigger question is what happens to the organisation when AI agents become part of the team.
Today, we have separate systems for almost everything:
Slack for communication.
GitHub for code.
Notion for knowledge.
Linear or Jira for tasks.
AI assistants for intelligence.
But perhaps the next generation of software will increasingly bring these things together.
Not simply a place where humans use AI.
But a shared environment where humans, agents, knowledge, conversations and actions exist together.
That changes the way we think about software.
What Is an AI Agent's Role?
Once we start treating an AI agent like a coworker, some surprisingly difficult questions appear.
What should it be allowed to do?
Who gives it permission?
Should it have its own identity?
Who is responsible when it makes a mistake?
Should it have access to the company's internal knowledge?
Can it build a reputation?
Can several agents work together?
And perhaps the most important question:
What should humans continue to do?
Buzz's approach is interesting because it doesn't only ask what an AI agent can do. It also considers the agent's identity and permissions within the workspace.
That distinction matters.
A useful AI agent isn't just intelligence.
It needs context, access and responsibility.
A Lesson for Businesses
I don't think the takeaway is:
“Everyone should start using Buzz.”
The more important takeaway is:
Start thinking about your organisation as if AI agents will eventually become part of your workforce.
If you are running a company today, perhaps it is worth asking:
If I hired five AI agents tomorrow, what jobs would I give them?
Maybe one manages research.
Another monitors competitors.
Another prepares reports.
Another writes first drafts.
Another checks code.
Another analyses customer feedback.
The technology is developing quickly.
But the organisational thinking needs to happen even faster.
The Next Definition of “Coworker”
We used to think of software as something we operated.
Then software became something that could recommend things to us.
Now software can increasingly act on our behalf.
That is a fundamental change.
Maybe the biggest impact of AI on the workplace isn't simply that computers become smarter.
Maybe it is that the definition of a “coworker” changes.
And if that happens, the future workplace won't just be humans using AI.
It may be humans and AI agents working together.
That is a future worth thinking about.
Sources:
#AI #ArtificialIntelligence #AIAgents #FutureOfWork #Productivity #Technology #AIWorkplace #GivingIsSharing
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