Work From Home, AI Weirdness and a Whole Bunch of Links

Your weekly dose of all things future awaits… plus one of our favorite tools (for free!)

Dear Friend –

One of our favorite tools in our toolbox is a little exercise we refer to as the “Killer Competitor” – a proven methodology that challenges teams to imagine the very entity that could put their company out of business, unlocking breakthrough insights that are often obscured by organizational inertia. And in a tariff-busting move (sorry, couldn’t resist…), we created a complete free guide on how to run your own Killer Competitor exercise – download it here. While you are at it, check out our other (also free) guides as well. And do let us know if you’d like to see a specific resource from us made available – just hit reply to this email!

And now, this…

Headlines from the Future

Work From Home Is Doing Just Fine, Thank You ↗

Wondering what the world of “work from home” truly looks like? Despite the rhetoric that it’s over, the average (!) American spends 1.6 days per week working from home…

Source: Apollo research​

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The Dark Side of Artificial Intelligence Adoption ↗

On the heels of my last post about Google co-founder Sergey Brin’s rather questionable approach to using AI to replace managers (or, at least, replace a lot of what they do), here is new research on the impact AI is having on the workplace.

From the study “The Dark Side of Artificial Intelligence Adoption: Linking Artificial Intelligence Adoption to Employee Depression via Psychological Safety and Ethical Leadership” published in Nature:

“While the adoption of AI brings numerous benefits, it also introduces negative aspects that may adversely affect employee well-being, including psychological distress and depression.”

The study goes on to say that

“With AI adoption, there is a real risk that employees will perceive threats to crucial resources like job stability, independence in their work, and professional competencies.”

In summary (and very much contrary to Mr. Brin’s approach):

“With the continuous advancement and integration of AI technology in our workplaces, it is imperative for organizations and leaders to prioritize the welfare of their employees, foster a supportive and inclusive working environment, and embrace an ethical approach that prioritizes people when incorporating AI.”

Link to study.

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”Management is like the easiest thing to do with the AI” ↗

Google cofounder Sergey Brin recently rambled his way through a conversation on management in the age of AI:

“Management is like the easiest thing to do with AI,” Brin said.

Apparently, management, for Brin, consists of summarizing meetings and assigning to-dos:

“It could suck down a whole chat space and then answer pretty complicated questions,” he said. “I was like: ‘OK, summarize this for me. OK, now assign something for everyone to work on.’”

So far, so bad. Where it gets really fun is when he lets AI make promotion decisions:

“It actually picked out this young woman engineer who I didn’t even notice; she wasn’t very vocal,” he said. “I talked to the manager, actually, and he was like, ‘Yeah, you know what? You’re right. Like she’s been working really hard, did all these things.’”

And as he clearly has outsourced his management to an AI, he doesn’t even really know if this all has happened or not:

“I think that ended up happening, actually,” Brin said of the promotion.

All in all, it’s a pretty bleak vision for the future.

Link to article.

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What We Are Reading

🤔 Almost Half of Young People Would Prefer a World Without Internet, UK Study Finds If nearly half of Gen Z would prefer a world without the internet, what does that tell us about where digital technology is heading? @Jane

🧩 GenAI’s Adoption Puzzle Daily Active User numbers for Gen AI chatbots lag far behind Weekly Active User numbers. That means that for most users, something crucial still isn’t clicking. @Jeffrey

🏭 To Improve Management, Build a Decision Factory Effective leadership isn’t just about making good decisions; it’s about creating systems that empower everyone in the organization to do the same. @Kacee

📉 Welcome to the AI Trough of Disillusionment As the high pace of development is maintained, more sophisticated models are being attempted to be utilized by companies that have not necessarily become more sophisticated themselves. Infrastructure, architecture, and integration are needed to drive mass adoption. @Julian

⚠️ The Most Valuable Commodity in the World Is Friction What if our obsession with “easy” tech and picture-perfect lifestyles is secretly dumping all the hard work onto our failing roads, schools, and air traffic systems—and what that really means for everyone? @Pascal

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Rabbit Hole Recommendations

• 99% of AI startups will be dead by 2026 — here’s why

• AI executive declares people “should be worried” about losing jobs to AI: government needs to “stop sugar-coating” it

• The recurring cycle of ‘developer replacement’ hype

• Klarna used an AI avatar of its CEO to deliver earnings, it said

• Microsoft dumps AI into Notepad as ‘Copilot all the things’ mania takes hold in Redmond

• Black Mirror was a warmup act

• Estonia eschews phone bans in schools and takes leap into AI

• Young adults in Europe are putting away smartphones

• College English majors can’t read

• Breakthrough DNA-based supercomputer runs 100 billion tasks at once

• New Report: Insect protein could be 13.5 times worse for climate than soy

• When a team is too big – What signs to look for and how to increase productivity with all-round skillset

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Happy Distractions

🌾 Ancient law requires a bale of straw to hang from Charing Cross rail bridge

🔊 Decibels are ridiculous – Celebrating a rare dumpster fire in the kingdom of science

👶🏼 How modern dog ownership has redefined family and parenting – Birth rates are declining worldwide, while dog parenting practices are gaining popularity

☕ New research shows decaf coffee can mimic caffeine’s effects in habitual drinkers