Life News

Working next to AI: hours saved in Japan, job fears in Hong Kong, and a papal caution

What is it like when some of your colleagues are software? The Guardian visited AI startup Anything, where Dhruv Amin chats every day with an executive assistant, a coding partner, an SEO helper and an office manager who keeps the kitchen stocked, none of them people. It says companies are boasting about doing more with less using AI in roles from executive assistants to chiefs of staff, creating tension with human workers.

In Japan, The Japan Times reported a survey of government staff in which over 50% of respondents said generative AI let them cut working hours by at least one hour a week.

In Hong Kong, the South China Morning Post quoted labour chief Chris Sun Yuk-han, who rejected fears that automation will replace the workforce as a “zero-sum game” and predicted demand for AI practitioners with both technical and professional expertise will grow three- to fourfold. Arab News reported that Pope Leo XIV said AI should be seen as tools rather than persons, cautioned against granting AI agents legal personhood or rights, and said responsibility for their actions should stay with their human creators.

How each outlet framed it

• The Guardian — the workplace up close: AI agents as named colleagues, and the strain on staff.
• The Japan Times — measured gains: hours saved in the public sector.
• South China Morning Post — careers: soft skills and domain knowledge as the edge for young workers.
• Arab News — ethics: who is responsible when AI agents act.

What we don't know yet: The Japanese survey measures time saved, not whether the work was better or how staff felt about it.