Co-work
A collaboration pattern where humans and AI split roles to complete work together
What is co-work?
Co-work is a working model where humans and AI do not operate in a one-way command-response pattern. Instead, they split responsibilities and complete tasks together.
Humans define goals, priorities, and decision boundaries. AI handles draft generation, option exploration, and repetitive execution.
How does it work in practice?
A common sequence looks like this:
- Human sets objective, constraints, and acceptance criteria.
- AI produces first drafts, alternatives, or structured analysis.
- Human reviews correctness, policy fit, and priority alignment.
- AI incorporates feedback and finalizes the deliverable.
The key is not replacing human judgment. The key is combining human decision quality with AI execution speed.
Why does it matter?
Co-work helps teams run more iterations with the same headcount. It is especially useful in writing, analysis, coding assistance, and support workflows.
However, sustainable gains require clear quality checks and responsibility boundaries.