Category Archives: work
ChatGPT is about to revolutionize the economy. We need to decide what that looks like.
Will ChatGPT make the already troubling income and wealth inequality in the US and many other countries even worse? Or could it help? Could it in fact provide a much-needed boost to productivity?
https://www-technologyreview-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/www.technologyreview.com/2023/03/25/1070275/chatgpt-revolutionize-economy-decide-what-looks-like/amp/
The problem with “quiet quitting” and other buzzy management terms
The media wasn’t done with labor market lingo after search interest in Klotz’s term subsided, though. In 2022 Zaid Khan, a tech worker based in New York City, shared a TikTok about “quiet quitting,” which he described as a rejection of “the hustle culture mentality that work has to be your life.” That term helped spur countless stories and think pieces about declining engagement among U.S. workers. After “quiet quitting” came myriad similar terms, including “quiet hiring,” “quiet firing,”and “loud quitting.” Just a few weeks ago “bare minimum Monday” started making the rounds in a new round of media coverage.
Experts who study language and management say there’s a reason we gravitate toward such terms during unstable or confusing periods. But relying too much on jargon can also do a disservice to workers and managers grappling with complex labor force-related challenges. Workplace leaders who are serious about addressing issues like employee engagement would be best served by forgetting about viral buzzwords, some scholars say, and instead focusing on their underlying causes.
https://qz.com/the-problem-with-quiet-quitting-and-buzzy-work-terms-1850247255?utm_source=email&utm_medium=daily-brief&utm_content=
OpenAI Research Says 80% of U.S. Workers’ Jobs Will Be Impacted by GPT
In a paper posted to the arXiv preprint server, researchers from OpenAI and the University of Pennsylvania argued that 80 percent of the US workforce could have at least 10 percent of their tasks affected by the introduction of GPTs, the series of popular large language models made by OpenAI. They also found that around 19 percent of workers will see at least 50 percent of their tasks impacted. GPT exposure is greater for higher-income jobs, they wrote in the study, but spans across almost all industries. They argue that GPT models are general-purpose technologies like the steam engine or the printing press.
https://www.vice.com/en/article/g5ypy4/openai-research-says-80-of-us-workers-will-have-jobs-impacted-by-gpt
Your brain may not be private much longer
Neurotechnology is upon us. Your brain urgently needs new rights.
The risks are profound. And the gaps in our existing rights are deeply problematic. So, where do I come out on the balance? I’m a little bit of a tech inevitabilist. I think the idea that you can somehow stop the train and say, “On balance, maybe this isn’t better for humanity and therefore we shouldn’t introduce it” — I just don’t see it working.
Nita Farahany
Maybe people will say, “My brain is too sacred and the risks are so profound that I’m not willing to do it myself,” but with the ways that people unwittingly give up information all the time and the benefits that are promised to them, I think that’s unlikely. I think we’ve got to carve out a different approach.
Resetting the Hero Code
by Marie Lena Tupot and Tim Stock
This morning, Robert C. Hockett, Cornell Professor of Law, discussed the Silicon Valley Bank situation on CNN. Hockett emphasized that the moment we are in is one of reindustrialization. We are back to making things. Hockett calls out the renewed importance of sector-specific banks, functioning as defacto credit unions and managed prudently. The situation has caught everyone off guard. Why? One reason Hockett cites is that the U.S. hasn’t had an interest rise like this in 50 years.
Agreed, but there is another phenomenon we are seeing. The narrative of hero code. Silicon Valley Bank has functioned along the lines of hero code. It was founded by former Bank of America managers in 1983 over a game of poker (Piscione, 2013). The most recent Wired Magazine‘s interview with Hockett asks “Is it sensible for a single bank to dominate an industry?” and uses words such as “rescue.”
With reindustrialization and a move back to maker culture, the notion of hero has long been losing its relevance.
This makes sense when we hear Hockett bring up the 1970s’ Volcker Era. PBS discussed Volcker in November 2022: “Ultimately, it took a crackdown by cigar-chomping Fed chairman Paul Volcker to break the cycle of rising prices and wages. Volcker slammed the brakes on the economy by raising interest rates to 20% — tough medicine to prove he was serious about getting inflation under control” (Horsley, 2022).
Heroes are not about “tough medicine.”
We can look at what hero code really means through the lens of developing AI and the design of ideal artificial moral agents: applying bravery, courage, integrity (Wiltshire, 2015). It’s a bit alarming though that in the age of ChatGPT, the most recent archetypal discussion looks at only the hero.
We have come so far from that framework, and are now stuck with heroes. Some right-wing memes even take issue with extending the honor of hero to healthcare frontline workers, believing hero lives only in the realm of law enforcement.
A hero is only one archetype that makes the world go ‘round.
We need to diversify our understanding of human behavioral codes. Karl Jung established nine archetypes. They each play a role in human culture. We look at each archetype to better understand centers of gravity.
The everyman, ruler, caregiver, innocent, lover, hero, jester, creator, explorer, magician, sage, and rebel. They all live out there at the same moment. To date, the hero stands alone having devolved into a dreaded narcissist. Hello, Russell Brand. Guardian columnist George Monbiot says he “once admired Russell Brand. But his grim trajectory shows us where politics is heading.”
We need a clear process of information gathering and intelligence to understand the cognitive spaces behind these discussions.
Director John Walker’s 2019 documentary Assholes: A Theory is onto something. “BAD behavior is as old as human history, something we all encounter at some point—whether on the playground, in the workplace or in public life. But the phenomenon seems to be amplified in an age of venomous social media and resurgent authoritarian politics.”
The academics, including Hockett, interviewed in support of the hypothesis are pretty remarkable. Although, the documentary makers are liberally using the term “theory” at this point.
Works cited:
Horsley, S. (2022, September 29). Memories of the 1970s haunt the Fed, pushing its aggressive rate moves. NPR. Retrieved March 13, 2023, from https://www.npr.org/2022/09/29/1125462240/inflation-1970s-volcker-nixon-carter-interest-rates-fed#:~:text=Ultimately%2C%20it%20took%20a%20crackdown,about%20getting%20inflation%20under%20control.
Lichfield, G. (2023, March 13). Silicon Valley will still need a bank. Wired. Retrieved March 13, 2023, from https://www.wired.com/story/silicon-valley-will-still-need-a-bank/
Monbiot, G. (2023, March 10). I once admired Russell Brand. but his grim trajectory shows us where politics is heading | George Monbiot. The Guardian. Retrieved March 13, 2023, from https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/mar/10/russell-brand-politics-public-figures-responsibility
Piscione, D. P. (2013, April). Secrets of Silicon Valley: What everyone else can learn from the innovation capital of the world. Palgrave Macmillan. https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781137324214/secretsofsiliconvalley
Walker, J. (Director). (2019). Assholes: A Theory [Film]. A John Walker Production. https://assholesatheory.com/about/
Wiltshire, T. J. (2015, February 14). A prospective framework for the design of ideal artificial moral agents: Insights from the science of heroism in humans – minds and machines. SpringerLink. Retrieved March 13, 2023, from https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11023-015-9361-2
Remote workers are adopting a new practice called ‘body doubling,’ in which they watch strangers work online
It’s not the most novel concept, but one that is “blowing up” because it’s become more accessible and innovative thanks to technology, says Dr. David Sitt, licensed psychologist and professor at Baruch College. He noted that many people who advise those with ADHD have said that working while someone else is around is easier. Plus, he added, streaming work sessions allows you to connect with people worldwide, which is helpful when it’s difficult to get people to actually commit to working with you IRL.
https://fortune-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/fortune.com/2023/03/05/body-doubling-parallel-working-tiktok-trend/amp/
Designing human-AI hybrids will be at the center of the future of work (Ross Dawson)
The future of work is not about AI replacing humans. It is about designing work so that machines and humans are complementary, not substitutes.
As described in my Humans in the Future of Work framework, there are a number of uniquely human capabilities that can be brought together in a wealth of roles that transcend what machines can do on their own.
This means that in designing the future of work, we need to have a keen focus on human-machine complementarity.
https://rossdawson.com/designing-human-ai-hybrids-future-of-work/
Beyond Coffee – People are zapping their brains at home to improve focus and clear brain fog.
At-home brain stimulation is flourishing among a group of enthusiasts, who say it gives them a mental edge. The science behind why it may work is still in the early stages.
https://www-nbcnews-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/rcna67231
When Typewriters ‘Killed Romance’
A love letter written with a typewriter today would be considered a romantic gesture, however in 1906 they were called the most “cold-blooded, mechanical, unromantic production imaginable” by one writer.
https://newsletter.pessimistsarchive.org/p/when-typewriters-killed-romance