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Artificial general intelligence (AGI) is a theoretical AI system with capabilities that rival those of a human. Many researchers believe we are still decades, if not centuries, away from achieving AGI.

Via Canadian Vocational Association / Association canadienne de la formation professionnelle, Bruno De Lièvre, michel verstrepen, juandoming

Mazin Gilbert has an ambitious goal. As vice president of advanced technologies at AT&T, Gilbert wants to make AI technologies widely available throughout the corporation, especially to those who might not have a computer science background and may not even know how to program. Call it the “democratization of AI.” To accomplish that goal, AT&T is building a user-friendly platform with point-and-click tools that will enable employees — up to one-quarter of the company’s workforce — to build their own AI applications.

 

AT&T and a host of other companies are trying to address a crucial issue in business: the severe shortage of AI talent. According to some estimates, only about 10,000 programmers in the world have the necessary expertise to develop advanced AI algorithms. But that’s barely a drop in the bucket for what companies will need in their future workforces. Tools like AT&T’s platform will help spread AI technologies well beyond just a limited number of “haves” and reach the “have nots” that may lack the technical knowledge and experience.

 

This democratization of AI will happen in two ways. First, it will enable employees across a large organization like AT&T to develop their own AI applications to make them better at their jobs. But it will also allow smaller firms to deploy some of the same AI capabilities that have heretofore been limited to large corporations. Think of how spreadsheets like Lotus 1-2-3 and Excel helped democratize data analysis, enabling even mom-and-pop shops to perform invaluable “what-if” analyses.

Via The Learning Factor

2017 was an exciting year for talent acquisition. We prepared for Generation Z. Leaders realized how critical it is to recruit

female talent. Organizations focused on offering attractive benefits that supported employee development and even infertility.

 

With all that progress, it'd be a shame to take two steps back in 2018. Dive into the new trends before it's too late.

 

This is what you need to concentrate on when hiring in 2018:

1. Focus on adaptability.

If we learned anything in 2017, it's that corporate stability is elusive. One week your company is leading the industry, the next the CEO is facing a series of scandals. If your workforce can't thrive in changing conditions, they won't achieve long-term success.

 

Andreas Pettersson is the chief product officer of the video cloud security company Arcus. The company is currently in the middle of a big hiring push, and they're approaching talent acquisition in a new way.

 

Pettersson pointed out that in the past, organizations looked for employees who adhered to a rigid plan. That is no longer the case.

"For today's most agile teams, a set plan is no longer a feasible or successful strategy for product development," he said. "In 2018, rather than technical skills defining the gold standard recruit, ideal candidates will fit seamlessly into the team, thrive in an empowered environment, and focus on solving the problem at hand."

 

This will be true for all industries, not just tech. Assemble a team that can keep up with the changing business environment. Look for candidates who have a wide range of experiences.

 

Check out LinkedIn and reach out to candidates who have successfully transitioned from one industry to another. This is one sign that they are adaptable.

2. Know your ABCs: AI, blockchain, and chatbots.

We've been talking about artificial intelligence for years. But we're just starting to see useful applications when it comes to hiring. Newer software saves hiring managers countless hours by pre-screening candidates.

 

Brian Christman is the vice president of people at the digital freight marketplace Transfix. He also has over a decade of experience helping companies like Etsy and SiriusXM scale.

 

"By leveraging big data and machine learning, recruiters are able to cast wider nets," said Christman. "They become more efficient in building high-quality pipelines, and ultimately can better predict the skills and attributes of prospective candidates that will have the highest probability of success."

 

Find an AI tool that will grow with your company. For example, Mosaictrack uses technology similar to IB's Watson to read through resumes like a human. Over time, it becomes more attuned to the skills and cultural factors you need. This leaves hiring managers more time to develop relationships with top talent.

 

Blockchain technology is another tool that will be gaining momentum this year. It was developed for exchanging bitcoin, but now there are wider applications.

 

Blockchain allows for a faster interaction with information by two or more parties. Everyone has the most up-to-date information, no matter how many people are using it.

 

Imagine how that could simplify team hiring. Instead of scrolling through an endless chain of messages to see what each person thought of a candidate, use blockchain technology. This will assure that each individual can easily add their own opinions and see those of everyone else.

 

Finally, chatbots are beginning to make a big impact. The technology saves hiring managers from wasting time on candidates who are a bad fit.

 

Put a chatbot on your company career page. Then potential candidates can interact with it and ask questions. Bringing things full circle, the chatbot can then deliver that communication to AI software. If there are signs that this is a strong candidate, you can make direct contact with them.

3. Make recruitment and marketing BFFs.

Google for Jobs, which debuted in 2017, will impact how organizations craft job listings in the coming year.

 

"Now recruiters have to think about how they are marketing their openings, which keywords you use, the schema behind how you set it up and ultimately what specific personas they want to attract," said Teri Calderon, executive vice president of human resources at technician staffing firm Field Nation.

 

Chances are your hiring team has no idea how to optimize a job posting so it will appear on the first page of Google. Offer training that explains to them why this is important. Provide a list of researched keywords that your ideal candidates will be searching for. This will ensure that the best talent applies with your company first.

Via The Learning Factor

Where does the algorithm see you in 10 years? This was the intriguing title in a recent Fortune Magazine article by Jennifer Alseven. In it she gave an example of how Artificial Intelligence (AI) software helped an overwhelmed CEO of a rapidly growing company with sifting through towering stacks of résumés.

The software helped speed up the vetting process by providing online simulations of what applicants might do on their first day as an employee.

Companies are using AI to assess human qualities, drawing on research to analyse everything from word choice and micro gestures to psycho-emotional traits and the tone of social media posts.

So what does this mean for the coaching profession?

In this edition we try to answer that question by taking an in-depth look at AI and the possible effects it can have on coaching.

How can we prepare ourselves and turn this challenge into an opportunity?

Via David Hain

Taking a positive approach by focusing on upgrading workers’ skills is more productive than warning against AI’s incursion into the labor landscape. Instead of trying to guard against a human vs. machine battle, what we need is greater human-machine collaboration. As The Wall Street Journal observed, “Automating parts of a job will often increase the productivity and quality of workers by complementing their skills with machines and computers, as well as by enabling them to focus on those aspects of the job that most need their attention.”

The AI-driven workplace evolution will not edge out humans altogether. A McKinsey Global Institute report suggested, “Humans will still be needed in the workforce [as] … the total productivity gains we estimate will only come about if people work alongside machines. That in turn will fundamentally alter the workplace, requiring a new degree of cooperation between workers and technology.”

Via John Evans, Jim Lerman, Mark E. Deschaine, PhD

What do we need to learn today to work with the robots of tomorrow?

Via Ana Cristina Pratas, Oskar Almazan

I continually emphasize that the future of work is for us to create. Nothing is inevitable. Enormous positive possibilities are open to us.

I for one will be working for the rest of my life in some guise, and most of the people I know will want to work, to be the best they can be, to create value for the world for the indefinite future.

Thinking about the work that we both want to do and will have value, potentially even when machines can transcend human capabilities, is critical.

There will always be work for humans, and if we go about it the right way it will be exactly the work we most want to do.

Via David Hain

The vast majority of humans throughout history worked because they had to. Many found comfort, value, and meaning in their efforts, but some defined work as a necessity to be avoided if possible. For centuries, elites in societies from Europe to Asia aspired to absolution from gainful employment. Aristotle defined a “man in freedom” as the pinnacle of human existence, an individual freed of any concern for the necessities of life and with nearly complete personal agency. (Tellingly, he did not define wealthy merchants as free to the extent that their minds were pre-occupied with acquisition.)

 

The promise of AI and automation raises new questions about the role of work in our lives. Most of us will remain focused for decades to come on activities of physical or financial production, but as technology provides services and goods at ever-lower cost, human beings will be compelled to discover new roles — roles that aren’t necessarily tied to how we conceive of work today.

Via The Learning Factor

This report lays out the current state of AI for business, describes primary and emerging use cases, and states the risks, opportunities and organizational considerations that businesses are facing. It concludes with recommendations for companies thinking about applying AI to their own organizations, and a look at some of the business, legal and technical trends that are likely to shape the future.

Key Findings

When it comes to use cases, narrow and clear is better than new and shiny. Some of the most promising uses of AI today are highly specialized and highly vertical — from farming, to self-driving cars, to predictive analytics and precision medicine. In many cases, the most successful deployments will identify buying signals and churn signals and automate complex processes.AI will become a forcing function for an organizational data strategy. AI learns from vast amounts of data. Clean, accessible data is the foundation upon which successful AI is built. This means that data availability and accessibility should be early considerations when determining where to build, and where not to build, AI into systems.Ultimately, the opportunity (and risk) of systems based on machine learning is in their ability to sense, communicate, learn, act and adapt over time, and to connect with other systems.  It’s not just about devices that will play a song or order tickets to a concert.Governance, privacy, ethics, and trust are critical to the customer experience. Even with a relatively “narrow” AI, it’s important to understand that enabling machines to learn and act based on data and past experience has significant implications. It’s critical to scenario plan for AI deployments — not only for the legal and regulatory reasons, but to protect and enhance the customer experience.
Via Farid Mheir