What: The outsourcing of supporting positions (secretaries, assistants) has led workers in spending time on less added-value activities than what they are trained and paid for.

Why it is important:  AI will not be a solution to this particular problem even though it will bring partial help and answers.

The rise of self-service software systems has led to the redistribution of tasks previously handled by secretaries and support staff to individual employees, a phenomenon that critics describe as "shadow work."

While the companies behind such systems claim that they save money and "empower" workers, critics argue that they add more tasks to already busy schedules. This creates problems for companies that may experience lost productivity among staff.

However, both Microsoft and Google are developing artificial intelligence tools that could make self-service more manageable for workers, even though AI will not literally replace the work previously done by secretaries and assistants during the past century.

Are the 21st-century jobs making the most of workers?