Your comment about about students…who are tomorrow's managers and executives in all sectors… losing problem solving and critical thinking skills is insightful. My observation is that problem solving skills in general are poor across our organizations.
It is a really important thing to consider. There is already evidence that internet usage is impacting people's focus and attention spans. This 2020 paper in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health concludes that "Whereas the effects of internet use on the brain are not yet fully understood, there is convergent evidence from multiple fields that our extensive interactions with this novel feature of society could influence our attention, memory, and other aspects of cognition." https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7766706/ I think it is really legitimate to probe more about what impact AI is going to have on top of this.
Thanks, Luc, I hadn’t seen that! I have much less direct exposure to companies looking to adopt AI than Rachel does, but the conversations I’ve had and the research I’ve read on AI adoption line up with what she is saying. My piece from a few weeks back on worker-centric AI adoption definitely is in step with her arguments about how workplaces with high worker autonomy need different approaches: https://orbitpolicy.substack.com/p/empower-canadas-workers-to-deliver
Your comment about about students…who are tomorrow's managers and executives in all sectors… losing problem solving and critical thinking skills is insightful. My observation is that problem solving skills in general are poor across our organizations.
It is a really important thing to consider. There is already evidence that internet usage is impacting people's focus and attention spans. This 2020 paper in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health concludes that "Whereas the effects of internet use on the brain are not yet fully understood, there is convergent evidence from multiple fields that our extensive interactions with this novel feature of society could influence our attention, memory, and other aspects of cognition." https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7766706/ I think it is really legitimate to probe more about what impact AI is going to have on top of this.
Good post Tom. I do question indeed whether AI will attain General-Purpose-Technology status. It is not inevitable. I think you will appreciate Rachel Coldicutt's recent piece on the matter: https://buttondown.com/justenoughinternet/archive/fomo-is-not-a-strategy/
Thanks, Luc, I hadn’t seen that! I have much less direct exposure to companies looking to adopt AI than Rachel does, but the conversations I’ve had and the research I’ve read on AI adoption line up with what she is saying. My piece from a few weeks back on worker-centric AI adoption definitely is in step with her arguments about how workplaces with high worker autonomy need different approaches: https://orbitpolicy.substack.com/p/empower-canadas-workers-to-deliver