The Future of Work is Blended, Not Hybrid

Marios Constantinides; Himanshu Verma; Shadan Sadeghian; Abdallah El Ali

doi:10.1145/3729176.3729202

The Future of Work is Blended, Not Hybrid

Marios Constantinides
, Himanshu Verma^*
, Shadan Sadeghian
, Abdallah El Ali

^*Corresponding author for this work

Sub Multimedia

CYENS Centre of Excellence
Delft University of Technology
University of Siegen
Centrum voor Wiskunde en Informatica

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution › Academic › peer-review

Abstract

The way we work is no longer hybrid-it is blended with AI coworkers, automated decisions, and virtual presence reshaping human roles, agency, and expertise. We now work through AI, with our outputs shaped by invisible algorithms. AI’s infiltration into knowledge, creative, and service work is not just about automation, but concerns redistribution of agency, creativity, and control. How do we deal with physical and distributed AI-mediated workspaces? What happens when algorithms co-author reports, and draft our creative work? In this provocation, we argue that hybrid work is obsolete. Blended work is the future, not just in physical and virtual spaces but in how human effort and AI output become inseparable. We argue this shift demands urgent attention to AI-mediated work practices, work-life boundaries, physical-digital interactions, and AI transparency and accountability. The question is not whether we accept it, but whether we actively shape it before it shapes us.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	CHIWORK 2025
Subtitle of host publication	Proceedings of the 4th Annual Symposium on Human-Computer Interaction for Work
Publisher	Association for Computing Machinery
Number of pages	13
ISBN (Electronic)	9798400713842
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1145/3729176.3729202
Publication status	Published - 22 Jun 2025
Event	4th Annual Symposium on Human-Computer Interaction for Work, CHIWORK 2025 - Hybrid, Amsterdam, Netherlands Duration: 23 Jun 2025 → 25 Jun 2025

Publication series

Name	CHIWORK 2025 - Proceedings of the 4th Annual Symposium on Human-Computer Interaction for Work

Conference

Conference	4th Annual Symposium on Human-Computer Interaction for Work, CHIWORK 2025
Country/Territory	Netherlands
City	Hybrid, Amsterdam
Period	23/06/25 → 25/06/25

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2025 Copyright held by the owner/author(s).

Keywords

artificial intelligence (AI)
blended experiences
Future of work
human-AI collaboration

Access to Document

10.1145/3729176.3729202Licence: CC BY

The Future of Work is Blended, Not HybridFinal published version, 547 KBLicence: CC BY

Cite this

Constantinides, M., Verma, H., Sadeghian, S., & El Ali, A. (2025). The Future of Work is Blended, Not Hybrid. In CHIWORK 2025: Proceedings of the 4th Annual Symposium on Human-Computer Interaction for Work Article 28 (CHIWORK 2025 - Proceedings of the 4th Annual Symposium on Human-Computer Interaction for Work). Association for Computing Machinery. https://doi.org/10.1145/3729176.3729202

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title = "The Future of Work is Blended, Not Hybrid",

abstract = "The way we work is no longer hybrid-it is blended with AI coworkers, automated decisions, and virtual presence reshaping human roles, agency, and expertise. We now work through AI, with our outputs shaped by invisible algorithms. AI{\textquoteright}s infiltration into knowledge, creative, and service work is not just about automation, but concerns redistribution of agency, creativity, and control. How do we deal with physical and distributed AI-mediated workspaces? What happens when algorithms co-author reports, and draft our creative work? In this provocation, we argue that hybrid work is obsolete. Blended work is the future, not just in physical and virtual spaces but in how human effort and AI output become inseparable. We argue this shift demands urgent attention to AI-mediated work practices, work-life boundaries, physical-digital interactions, and AI transparency and accountability. The question is not whether we accept it, but whether we actively shape it before it shapes us.",

keywords = "artificial intelligence (AI), blended experiences, Future of work, human-AI collaboration",

author = "Marios Constantinides and Himanshu Verma and Shadan Sadeghian and \{El Ali\}, Abdallah",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2025 Copyright held by the owner/author(s).; 4th Annual Symposium on Human-Computer Interaction for Work, CHIWORK 2025 ; Conference date: 23-06-2025 Through 25-06-2025",

year = "2025",

month = jun,

day = "22",

doi = "10.1145/3729176.3729202",

language = "English",

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}

Constantinides, M, Verma, H, Sadeghian, S & El Ali, A 2025, The Future of Work is Blended, Not Hybrid. in CHIWORK 2025: Proceedings of the 4th Annual Symposium on Human-Computer Interaction for Work., 28, CHIWORK 2025 - Proceedings of the 4th Annual Symposium on Human-Computer Interaction for Work, Association for Computing Machinery, 4th Annual Symposium on Human-Computer Interaction for Work, CHIWORK 2025, Hybrid, Amsterdam, Netherlands, 23/06/25. https://doi.org/10.1145/3729176.3729202

The Future of Work is Blended, Not Hybrid. / Constantinides, Marios; Verma, Himanshu; Sadeghian, Shadan et al.
CHIWORK 2025: Proceedings of the 4th Annual Symposium on Human-Computer Interaction for Work. Association for Computing Machinery, 2025. 28 (CHIWORK 2025 - Proceedings of the 4th Annual Symposium on Human-Computer Interaction for Work).

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution › Academic › peer-review

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The Future of Work is Blended, Not Hybrid

Abstract

Publication series

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Bibliographical note

Keywords

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