During the next few decades (or maybe sooner), the notion of work and whether it is handled by a human or a virtual being will hinge on predictability. As they are starting to do today, machines will manage the routine while humans take on the unpredictable – tasks that require creativity, problem solving and flexibility.

That’s not to say that the role of computers will not grow and handle more sophisticated processes. Even today, machines “learn” to carry out tasks we could hardly imagine 20 years ago. Did a DJ just pick your favorite song, or was it an algorithm?

Using statistical patterns in data, computers can “learn” to improve the efficiency of many different work processes – such as customer care and toll collection on the highways. One day soon, computers even may handle routine medical diagnosis.

But as we deploy computers to make our world more efficient, human work will take on more of a “problem solving” role, overseeing processes and coming to the rescue when things go awry. As computers enable massive optimization, the ability to accommodate error shrinks, and this can lead to crisis – in work and in society.

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So instead of dividing up work between computers and humans, I expect to see a world where humans and machines work together to tackle problems at lightning speed. This will require multiple points of view in a way that is not always expected or accepted today. To problem solve “on the fly,” small teams will come together to merge what machines can do with the capacity of human imagination.

When I was a kid, I remember some of the people who influenced my future studies, talking about how computers already were exceeding human capabilities in many areas. They were predicting many things that today we take for granted – searching the globe for the best price on a product; computers that beat humans at chess and machines that can cook! However, already as a kid, the picture they painted of the future was puzzling. Automation was considered “good” but at the same time there was little discussion about how human capabilities would fit into this world of the future.

Today, I work on this question every day. As it was predicted, information technology has made great advances possible. It has automated tasks with low added value for humans, such as manufacturing and data entry. It also has enabled previously unknown levels of efficiency and optimization, with systems that are able to continuously lean how to improve themselves.

But humans are still a very essential part of the process. Think about delivering services to a client. Most customer challenges are routine, but humans play a very important role in addressing new issues, solving them the first time they appear and then consolidating the process into the system.

Managing the unpredictable is where human work gets the most interesting, and that’s the future we’re moving into – along with our machine teammates.

Antonietta Grasso runs a research group at the European Research Centre of Xerox, the Work Practice Technology team.