throwforwardthursday

A company is suing its own AI chatbot for providing misleading information to a client. I wish I could make up a headline from the future that was better than this - its actually a real story from February 2024 involving Air Canada. 

The practical lesson is that we need to be careful of automating our workforces, rather than augmenting them. People who use AI are better than people who don't. AI, though, is better when it is used by people than when it is left on its own.

Learn from Air Canada's mistake. 

Imagine arriving at the office, and the lighting and aircon are just perfect, there's exactly the right ambient noise, the desk is set up perfectly, the food and drinks easily available are precisely what you need... everything is set up just right to ensure you can deliver your best work. 

This is the workplace of the future that adjusts in real time based both on who you are and what you're trying to achieve in the next few hours. 

Elite sportspeople already use data analytics to craft the perfect work environment for themselves. We need to use the same approach in our workplaces - not to extract MORE from our people, but to help them give their BEST. 

Come with me to January 2026, when a major company announces a new reward system for the senior Executives: part of your bonus depends on how well you sleep each night. That's right: we are going to measure your sleep, and reward you if you do it well.

The science is pretty clear: sleep is one of the most important factors in clear thinking, regulated emotions, good decision making, ethical judgements, strategic thinking, and actually almost everything that makes a good leader good. So, why wouldn't we insist that good leaders get good sleep? I think we should. I think we will. Soon.

This is just one idea in a series of "future of work" suggestions you'll be hearing from me this year. I am passionate about helping organisations getting the BEST out of the people rather than just the MOST. Speak to me for more ideas if you don't want to wait for future videos. 

Come to the future with me, where the current frustrations about the size, range, weight and cost of batteries have all been resolved. And check out a very clever solution for fast recharging that already exists. The future is electric. And it is very smart. This is the start of a few week mini-series on the future of energy. 

In last week's episode, we highlighted the Japan Airlines experiment of providing rented clothes to tourists. Today, we look at the business models underlying that experiment, and what our businesses should be thinking about in relation to ESG, SaaS and Platform Plays.

The 2020 Nobel Prize for Chemistry was awarded to Dr. Jennifer Doudna and Dr. Emmanuelle Charpentier for their work on the gene editing technique known as CRISPR-Cas9. This gives us the ability to change the DNA of any living thing, from plants and animals to humans. 



The applications are enormous, from improving farming to curing diseases. A decade or so from now, CRISPR will no doubt be taught in High Schools, and be a basic building block of medicine and agriculture. It is going to change everything.



There are ethical and moral concerns, of course, and we will need regulations to ensure this powerful technology is not abused. But we should focus on the remarkable opportunities CRISPR has opened up for us.



RESOURCES:

• * Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CRISPR
  
• * iBiology: https://www.ibiology.org/crispr-cas-technology
  
• * VIDEO by Dr Doudna: https://www.ibiology.org/genetics-and-gene-regulation/crispr-cas9/
  
• * WEF on CRISPR ethics: https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2023/03/biology-data-science-convergence-benefits/