Eric Yuan, founder and CEO of Zoom, recently shared an ambitious and controversial vision for the future of work powered by AI.
In an extensive interview with The Verge's Decoder podcastYuan envisioned a world where AI-powered digital twins could attend meetings and make decisions on our behalf.
But is this sci-fi vision realistic? And most importantly, is it desirable?
I got the scoop from Paul Rutzer, founder/CEO of the Marketing AI Institute Episode 104 of Artificial Intelligence Show.
The AI-powered future of work
Yuan's vision includes several bold predictions, the biggest of which is that people will have their own “digital twins” to attend meetings and make decisions on their behalf.
The Verge writes:
See, Eric really wants you to stop attending Zoom meetings yourself. You'll hear him describe how he thinks one of the big benefits of AI at work will be letting us all create what he calls a “digital twin” — basically a deepfake of you. An avatar that can go to Zoom meetings on your behalf and even make decisions for you while you spend your time on more important things, like your family.
“Let's say the team is waiting for the CEO's decision in a meaningful conversation. My digital twin can really represent me in the decision-making process,” Yuan said in the interview.
While Yuan believes this future is years away, he sees it as an inevitability.
A “weird” vision of the future
“It's one of the weirdest interviews I've ever heard,” Reutzer said. “It's gotten weird really fast.”
And, unfortunately, Yuan didn't explain how the world of our digital clones working for us in the meetings would actually play out.
“He didn't have an answer to any of that,” Rutzer said, referring to follow-up questions from podcast host Nelle Patel about how this AI-powered future would work.
“As CEO, he apparently had zero plans for how this was all going to happen.”
One of the most striking aspects of the interview, according to Rutzer, was Yuan's apparent distaste for many aspects of the job:
“The part that struck me as weird: A guy who runs Zoom hates meetings,” Rutzer said. “It's very clear that he despises meetings, never wants to be in them, doesn't like e-mail.”
This disconnect between Yuan's personal preferences and Zoom's core business raised concerns for Rutzer about the company's future direction.
The Human Factor: What's at Stake?
Most importantly, whether the yuan is right or wrong — or whether there is a plan for either…
Do we actually Want This?
“I don't want to live in the future he imagines,” says Rutzer. “I don't want my AI to show up and make decisions for me.”
This particular vision of the future lacks the human element.
“Can you imagine if I sat here and said: 90 percent of what all our employees do will be done by their AI digital twins?” Rutzer asks.
Employees may have some questions about what this means for their jobs and value.
The reality of AI in today's meetings
While Yuan's vision seems far-fetched, AI Is It's already interfering with how we organize meetings.
“This idea of AI assistants is going to become more popular now,” Rutzer says. “So you'll have your note taker there. [in meetings] With you, this assistant summarizes, analyzes the information, gives you recommendations.
This is good news.
Because mastering these near-term AI tools and their benefits can give leaders and practitioners a “tremendous competitive advantage in the near term,” says Rutzer.
Which means the most effective way forward is likely to leverage AI as a powerful assistant, not a replacement for human judgment and interaction.
But the challenge for all, as Yuan's interview shows, will be finding the right balance between AI-driven efficiency and the irreplaceable value of human collaboration.