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Whatever game you are playing, generative AI is changing it. As the capabilities of the technology continue to proliferate, our societies are in the midst of fundamental change - as sizable as that generated by the advent of the printing press.
2024 is set to be another massive year for AI as we continue to see big companies integrate it into their operations, jobs evolve with the takeover, and regulations play catch up.
“RIZZ” IS THE WORD OF THE YEAR: HERE ARE THE OTHER LANGUAGE BARRIERS IN YOUR WORKPLACE
Oxford Dictionary have announced their word of the year, and you will be forgiven if you have no idea what it means, if you have even heard it at all. The word of 2023 is, ‘Rizz.’
If you haven’t heard of it, ‘rizz’ is a slang word derived from ‘charisma’, defined by The Oxford Dictionary as, "Pertaining to someone’s ability to attract another person through style, charm, or attractiveness."
“Rizz” is one word among many proliferated primarily through Gen Z’s social media presence – Gen Z being the 2 billion people born between 1995 and 2009.[1] Other key words in the lexicon include, “slay”, “sus”, “drip”, “simp”, “stan” and “cap”, all commonly used among Gen Zs but completely opaque to the untrained ears of older generations.
FORGET INCENTIVES: THIS IS WHAT REALLY MOTIVATES HUMANS
Good news: human beings are better than we think. Finding ways to motivate people has bewildered leaders for centuries. While most have given up use of the 'stick' as a motivator, many continue to use the 'dangled carrot' - but findings from the last few years show that this is far more counterproductive than we think.
Contrary to what we would assume, rewards and incentives can often have the effect of demotivating others. According to researchers at the US National Institute of Health (NIH), the reason for this can be found in the part of the brain that they stimulate.
How to Stop an Outage Becoming an Outrage
Following the recent Senate enquiry, now ex-CEO of Optus Kelly Bayer Rosmarin resigned with a name now tied to two of the biggest tele-communications crises of the last few years – last year’s data breach and last fortnight’s network outage.
While crises will inevitably occur, they do not need to come at the cost of credibility. However, so many leaders and companies fail to exhibit the qualities that the public expects during a crisis, and because of this they forfeit the trust that undeniably equates to currency in today’s sceptical marketplace. This most recent network outage crisis offers leaders and organisations some lessons on precisely this front.
HOW TO HARNESS THE HERD INSTINCT
The human being is a tribal creature. We operate as a ‘we’ far more reliably than we operate as an ‘I’, and our compulsion for conformity is consistently stronger than our impulse towards individuality. This revelation has been key to the last century of psychological findings, and offers vital insight to the social and trends of our day – and how we might influence them.
Intuitively, we all know we operate as a group. Anyone who has been caught up in the energy of a sports match or immersed in the atmosphere of a concert has witnessed firsthand the striking power of the herd. The group’s influence on the individual has been proved over and over in psychological studies, often to rather comical effects.
MEET THE BOOKBOT: MY ATTEMPT AT REVOLUTION NOT EVOLUTION
Creatives are at a crossroads.
A few months ago, a letter signed by over eight-thousand authors made the news as it asked the leaders of companies like Microsoft and Meta not to train their AI systems on the authors’ work without consent or compensation. Published by the Author’s Guild and signed by names like Margaret Atwood and James Patterson, the letter made the case that real authors have worked to produce the intellectual property which is being used to feed the AI, and should be appropriately compensated.[1]
Technology often advances faster than the infrastructure and regulations needed to support it. As AI tools have proliferated exponentially over the past year, the legal issues of intellectual property, copyright and plagiarism have only become more complex. As big companies are profiting of the creative work of people who have spent decades committed to their craft, the ethical injustices are clear.
WHY YOUR MIND IS NOT OVER MATTER
We all like to believe we put our mind over matter. Overall, we are rational agents with free will who have control over our bodies, impulses and sensations. However, more and more studies are emerging that prove this belief to be far from the truth.
Researchers across disciplines and cultures are showing that our bodies are far more involved in our thinking than we like to believe. Our cognitive processes are embedded in a system that involves various parts of the rest of our body, from our heart to our gut.
CREDIBILITY COUNTS. HERE’S WHAT MAKES IT UP
American author, speaker and pastor John Maxwell practices what he preaches when it comes to leadership. Over the years, he has been a strong proponent of the critical importance of credibility for individuals and organizations.
“Credibility is a leader’s currency…” he suggests, “With it, he or she is solvent; without it, he or she is bankrupt.”
In my work with leaders across a range of industries, I have found that there are three characteristics that typically add up to make a credible leader or organisation.
THE BEST TIME TO DITCH EXCESS BAGGAGE IS DURING TURBULENCE
Downturns and hard times are often perceived as a curse in business. When market share dwindles, sales dry up and nothing seems to be going your way, leaders often long for the former glory days of growth and prosperity. However, in the same way that nature has seasons, industries have cycles that serve an important purpose. The key to surviving, thriving and achieving enduring relevance in the long-term is to work with rather than war against seasons and cycles – especially the adverse ones.
We often think of the world of farming and agriculture as the antithesis of the technological hubs of places like Silicone Valley. Our urban Internet of Things feels worlds away from the earthier environments that keep our people fed and our societies functioning. It’s easy to forget that one of the industries where tech innovation is hitting the ground most effectively is agriculture.
Agricultural technology, or ‘agtech’, is moving just as quickly as the technology in other industries, and is significantly improving the efficiency, profitability and sustainability of farming. Significantly, agtech is boosting precision agriciulture which is based on precise monitoring and measurement of the environment and aims to maximise farm outputs. Particularly as concerns grow surrounding food wastage and the health of our environments, the sensors, drones and autonomous technology now being used on farms are providing solutions that are both effective and timely for farmers.[1]
Robo-farmers aren’t afraid to get their hands dirty.