‘Performative work’ is holding back productivity, poll claims

‘Performative work’ is holding back productivity, poll claims

by • Flexible working, News, Technology

A new  poll from Slack claims that a focus on performative work, rather than impact, is holding back UK businessesA new  poll from Slack claims that a focus on performative work, rather than impact, is holding back UK businesses; leading to them falling behind the likes of Germany, France, India and Singapore when it comes to adopting, and gaining, the efficiency benefits of technological advances in AI and automation. Based on findings from 2,000 desk workers in the UK, only 21 percent say their company is using AI tools to improve productivity, compared to 75 percent in India, 35 percent in Singapore, 29 percent in Germany and 23 percent in France. Meanwhile, 37 percent of UK workers say their productivity is measured on visibility (i.e. hours spent in the office or online). As a result, almost one third (30 percent) of the average day is lost to performative work that doesn’t contribute to company goals, but is simply done to appear productive. More →

Half of traditional non-tech firms now consider themselves tech firms

Half of traditional non-tech firms now consider themselves tech firms

by • Business, News, Technology, Workplace

Nearly half (49 percent) of ‘traditional’ enterprises now consider themselves tech firms, and are adopting more ‘tech-like’ strategies, roles and tools to drive innovation and growth.The pandemic years forced traditional industries to digitise their operations at speed, but three years on, non-tech enterprises across the UK – from sectors including finance, advertising, manufacturing and more – are actively embracing the ‘tech mindset’ more than ever, according to a new report. The poll from Pendo [registration], claims that nearly half (49 percent) of ‘traditional’ enterprises now consider themselves tech firms, and are adopting more ‘tech-like’ strategies, roles and tools to drive innovation and growth. More →

Business leader express concerns about ethics and implementation of artificial intelligence

Business leader express concerns about ethics and implementation of artificial intelligence

by • News, Technology

A report claims that the majority of business leaders still grappling with the skills and ethics needed to implement artificial intelligenceA new survey of 1,000 global business leaders claims that although leaders say they understand how valuable artificial intelligence can be to their business, over two-thirds (69 percent) say their organisation lacks the skills to fully implement artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML). The report – AI IQ: Insights on Artificial Intelligence in the Enterprise [registration] – also suggests that the majority of business leaders believe humans should be involved in AI decision-making, citing ethical and data concerns. More →

Businesses need three years to prepare for impact of AI

Businesses need three years to prepare for impact of AI

by • News, Technology, Workplace

A new survey of 600 UK human resources (HR) managers and directors suggests they will need three years to be ready for the impact of AI on the workplaceA new survey of 600 UK human resources (HR) managers and directors suggests they will need three years to be ready for the impact of AI on the workplace – yet 99 percent believe artificial intelligence (AI) will deliver benefits. Almost 40 percent said it would take a minimum of three years before they were prepared for the impact of AI on their roles, and fewer than one in six (15 percent) said they would be fully prepared for the potential impact of AI on the workforce within the year. To integrate AI, nearly 40 percent were investing in their tech teams, while 35.5 percent were already trialling AI in their businesses. More →

Throwing open the window to a new world of work

Throwing open the window to a new world of work

by • Comment, Flexible working, Technology

An illustration of a frog, a key metaphor in Charles Handy's writing about the world of workWhile at work in a Viennese Obstetric Clinic in the mid 1840s, a Hungarian physician named Ignaz Semmelweis noticed that mothers were far less likely to succumb to a potentially fatal infection called puerperal fever when the medical staff treating them washed their hands. When he started collecting data to confirm his insight, he found that hand washing reduced mortality rates from around 10 percent to as little as 1 percent. Although, his findings predated the germ theory of disease, which left him without an explanation, in 1847 he published a book in which he proposed that the link was so evident that in future staff should always wash their hands in chlorinated lime before treating patients, to protect them from infection.

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Even when machines make better decisions than humans, people still override them

Even when machines make better decisions than humans, people still override them

by • News, Technology

Machines can make better decisions than humans, but humans often struggle to know when the machine’s decision making is actually more accurate and end up overriding the algorithm decisions for worseMachines can make better decisions than humans, but humans often struggle to know when the machine’s decision making is actually more accurate and end up overriding the algorithm decisions for worse, according to new research from academics at ESMT Berlin, This phenomenon is described in the paper as algorithm aversion, and is attributed to an inherent mistrust in machines. More →

A Newtonian perspective on productivity, reason and creativity

A Newtonian perspective on productivity, reason and creativity 0

by • Comment, Technology, Workplace, Workplace design

On the doorstep of the British Library, you will find Edouardo Paolozzi’s imposing statue of Sir Isaac Newton. At first glance, this position seems to make perfect sense. Where better for a monument to the Enlightenment’s poster boy than raised on a plinth at the entrance to the world’s second largest library? And yet, there’s more going on here than is evident at first glance.

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Getting back to the idea of a better future

Getting back to the idea of a better future

by • Comment, Technology

We may not be in control of what the future holds or able to predict it, but we should rediscover the hope that it will be better.  A recent edition of Jon Connell’s daily newsletter The Knowledge included this nugget: “Last month, I heard one of the world’s most successful fund managers admit that the charts and models he previously used “gave almost no clue” as to what to do with money now. (His one firm prediction, that the US dollar would weaken, has so far proved dead wrong.) Same with climate, with migration, with a business world about to be utterly transformed by AI. That, as much anything, will be one of the biggest questions of the coming years and decades: What do we do if we can’t predict the future?” More →

Artificial intelligence will boost short term headcount, claim half of employers

Artificial intelligence will boost short term headcount, claim half of employers

by • News, Technology, Workplace

More than half (54 percent) of Britain’s employers expect Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies will have a positive impact on their staff headcount over the next two yearsMore than half (54 percent) of Britain’s employers expect Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies will have a positive impact on their staff headcount over the next two years, according to a survey by Experis, a part of ManpowerGroup.  The survey of 2,000+ British employers also suggests that more than two thirds (69 percent) of businesses expect AI tools and technologies – including ChatGPT, Machine Learning and Virtual Reality – to have a positive impact on upskilling and reskilling, as well as on employee training (68 percent). 67 percent of British organisations anticipate a positive impact on employee engagement because of AI technology, and 60 percent think it can positively impact the onboarding process too. More →

People don’t trust artificial intelligence on decision making ability in recruitment

People don’t trust artificial intelligence on decision making ability in recruitment

by • News, Technology, Workplace

The vast majority of British workers (88 percent) are happy for artificial intelligence to be used in the recruitment process but draw the line when it comes to human decision makingThe vast majority of British workers (88 percent) are happy for artificial intelligence to be used in the recruitment process but draw the line when it comes to human decision making, according to a new poll from Totaljobs. The survey, which asked 2,002 UK workers about their thoughts on how AI will impact their working lives, found that nearly three-quarters (72 percent) believe that full disclosure of how the technology is used in the hiring process should be mandatory. More →

The Internet and a pile of turtles that goes all the way down

The Internet and a pile of turtles that goes all the way down

by • Comment, Technology

alan_turingIn his 1998 book A Brief History of Time, Stephen Hawking relates the following anecdote: “A well-known scientist (some say it was Bertrand Russell) once gave a public lecture on astronomy. He described how the earth orbits around the sun and how the sun, in turn, orbits around the centre of a vast collection of stars called our galaxy. At the end of the lecture, a little old lady at the back of the room got up and said: “What you have told us is rubbish. The world is really a flat plate supported on the back of a giant tortoise.” The scientist gave a superior smile before replying, “What is the tortoise standing on?” “You’re very clever, young man, very clever,” said the old lady. “But it’s turtles all the way down!” 

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Mandatory use of AI technology dampens people’s enthusiasm for the stuff

Mandatory use of AI technology dampens people’s enthusiasm for the stuff

by • News, Technology

Teams with a positive inclination towards artificial intelligence experienced a dampening effect on their enthusiasm to collaborate when forced to use AI technologyTeams with a positive inclination towards artificial intelligence experienced a dampening effect on their enthusiasm to collaborate when forced to use AI technology, a new study has found. Researchers also found that teams with initial negative views about AI were in fact more likely to collaborate with AI when forced to use it. The research, which has been published in the academic journal Group & Organization Management, underscores the importance of trust in AI and how employers should introduce the growing technology into their businesses. More →

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