Most of the noise about AI is about what the machines do. This week we are thinking about the people, and why keeping humans in the lead starts with staying curious enough to ask why.
1️⃣ The AI debate is stuck on the wrong question.
Everyone is talking about what AI can do. Few leaders are asking what we are designing it to do. On the latest episode of the Elephants in the Boardroom podcast, Graeme Codrington and Dean van Leeuwen take on the word they think holds leaders back.
Not artificial intelligence. Advancing intelligence. Are we designing AI to make our people sharper, or advancing the machine while the people behind it fall behind? Read our latest LinkedIn post, then listen to the full episode from there or wherever you get your podcasts. Dean goes deeper in our next insight, The AI Paradox.
2️⃣ The driverless car clip was short. The argument runs deeper.
You have seen the clip of Dean van Leeuwen stuck in a driverless taxi in Nashville. Last week he told the full story on the podcast. Now he has written it down, and The AI Paradox goes further than either. Fixing the standoff took three kinds of intelligence, and only one came from the machine. A road worker read the scene in seconds. The car could not read him at all. Dean’s takeaway is simple. The traits we call soft, empathy, curiosity and judgment, matter more as machines get stronger, not less. Read the full article here…
3️⃣ The four-day week works. The extra day off is not why.
The biggest study of the four-day week followed nearly 2,900 workers across 141 companies. Burnout fell, satisfaction rose, and 90% of the companies kept the model. But the day off was not what made it work. The redesign was. To get ready, companies cut pointless meetings and gave people more control over how they worked. The shorter week forced the change. The leaders who fail are the ones still counting hours instead of outcomes. Read what the research shows.
4️⃣ Your phone will not predict an earthquake. It might still save your life.
On June 24th, earthquakes struck Venezuela. The accelerometer in your phone, the same sensor behind fall detection, feels the first tremors before a quake hits. When thousands of Android phones feel it at once, the network pins the epicentre and fires an alert. People got a few seconds of warning.
Graeme Codrington says those few seconds were enough for some to reach safety, and lives were saved. His point is clear. The best technology is not the cleverest. It is the tech giving real help when it matters. Watch here…
5️⃣ The biggest AI risk is a team too comfortable to ask why.
Harvard Business School researcher Alex Chan gave 2,512 people an AI risk score on a $10,000 loan, plus the option to see the reasoning behind it. Most wanted the score. Fewer than half wanted the why, and when a bonus rode on it, fewer still. Chan’s point is simple. The biggest AI risk is a team trained to stop asking why. Read Chan’s write-up by Ben Rand.
Knowing AI matters is the easy part. Leading your team through it is not.
This is the work we do with leadership teams. If your people know AI matters but cannot yet lead through it, Graeme runs a 90-minute Masterclass on the 5T AI Impact Model built around your team.
Book a discovery call, and we will build it around your team.