I speak with Dr. Kevin J. Jones, Associate Professor of Management and AI Strategist at Indiana University Columbus, about the competencies we should be developing the AI age. Kevin and I met at World Summit AI in Amsterdam in October 2024, while speaking on the panel "Beyond the hype: Navigating the AI ecosystem to ensure best value for business" together.
We cover the importance of discernment in the AI age, the "age of accelerated transformation", the impact of AI on the undergraduate experience, the potential negative impact of AI on creativity, systems thinking, design thinking, and more.
After I posted this viral TikTok about Tin Can (landlines for kids), I reached out to founder Chet Kittleson to learn more about the company. In this episode, we chat all things Tin Can, landlines, and what changes parents have reported in their children as a result of landline use.
In this mini episode, I detail my four principles of sociotechnical design. Sociotechnical design works to improve the relationship between people and technology, prioritizing joint optimization. I speak about psychogeography (the effect of place on our emotions and behavior), non-places, hypercommunication, and more.
I developed these four principles over the last nine years, and presented them at the 7th Nordic Science and Technology Studies conference at Stockholm University in June (the week before my wedding!). These principles can be used to improve organizations, as well as everyday life more generally.
Whipsmart Media and Get Started With AI founder Jonathan McCrea and I speak about the future of AI, how to close the gap in AI knowledge between big businesses and small enterprises, technology and communication, AI transformation and facilitated brainstorns, situated learning, tools like Stanford's STORM, ethical implications of AI, tips on making your way through the overwhelming digital world, and more.
Jonathan is also the host of Futureproof with Jonathan McCrea, a weekly science podcast.
Steve Rathje, Incoming Assistant Professor of Human Computer Interaction at Carnegie Mellon University, joins us to kick off season three of Progression to Analog! You may know Steve from his TikTok @stevepsychology (1M+ followers). We discuss the psychology of virality and why info spreads offline and online, the paradox of virality and why people share negative content online even though they claim to not want negative content, smartphone bans, cross-cultural social media trends, and more.
I came across Swipe: Being Online 24/7 at McNally Jackson in lower Manhattan a few months ago and was drawn by the unique nature of the book. Swipe presents questions about the smartphone that the users may not have asked themselves, with a unique collection of images, phrases, and stories. The book is divided into five sections: SURVIVAL, SENSE OF SELF, HABITS, RESOURCES, and EXISTENTIAL CRISIS.
In this episode of Progression to Analog, I interview Amsterdam-based Ieva Jakusa, one of the authors of Swipe. Swipe was co-authored with Mieke Gerritzen, with Next Nature. We speak about the book, smartphone habits, and the smartphone's influence on everyday life.
More about Ieva: Ieva Jakusa is an Amsterdam-based Latvian artist, researcher and and graphic designer, a graduate of Design Academy Eindhoven, and currently completing her MA at the Royal Academy of Arts, The Hague, with a focus on research-driven artistic practices. Her work has been supported by Amsterdams Fonds voor de Kunst, Stimuleringsfonds, and the Latvian State Culture Capital Foundation. She is the author of SWIPE. Your World in the Pocket (BIS Publishers) and I Grew Up in the Blockhouse (Zuzeum) have collaborated with institutions such as Next Nature and Hamburg University City Science Lab. Her work has been exhibited at the Nationaal Archief, Van Abbemuseum, Kim Contemporary Art Centre, and Milan Design Week.
"I think we have a listening problem" -Stephanie from NYC (name changed)
I interview six people, explore expert opinions (and share my own) re: why it can be tough to have difficult conversations today.
Can scrolling be good for you? Yes, if you take out the doom. I explore different perspectives on scrolling, based on Harvard Medical School research, and a perspective from a UVA Professor on 'hope scrolling'.
From a Baudrillardian (versus Bostrum-esque) angle of simulation theory, I discuss why we live in a simulation, what that means in terms of everyday life, and how we can deal with it.
"THE SIMULACRUM IS NEVER WHAT HIDES THE TRUTH—IT IS TRUTH THAT HIDES THE FACT THAT THERE IS NONE. THE SIMULACRUM IS TRUE."
-Jean Baudrillard, Simulacra and Simulation (1981)
A year ago today, I launched the trailer for Progression to Analog. Twelve months later, I'm reflecting on what a year it was—speaking about Progression to Analog at conferences and universities across the United States and Europe.
From Columbia University and keynoting AESC in New York; to re:publica and Tech Open Air in Berlin; to MOME and Brain Bar in Budapest; to World Summit AI in Amsterdam, I shared the core tenants of Progression to Analog and sociotechnical design with thousands live, as well as listeners across 39 countries. I can't wait for what's ahead! Tune in next Wednesday for more.
I explore how phones have shifted the modern concert experience, as well as attending a concert in 2024 without documenting it. I also explore artists' and music lovers' opinions on the matter.
Some of the references from the episode:
The unexpected social consequences of diverting attention to our phones (2022 Princeton Psychology, NYU, and Princeton Neuroscience Institute Study)
fallingforyou - Live from the O2. London. 16.12.16. (Matty Healy / the 1975)
Are You Really There? The Mediatized Experience of the 21st Century Concert-Goer (Erica Felice Melamed)
Just as hostages affected by Stockholm Syndrome may rationalize their captor’s actions, we often rationalize inappropriate or manipulative behaviors related to screens.
This is a phenomenon that I call “coincé dans l’écran”, or being “stuck in the screen”.
I explore blocking from a sociological perspective.
References:
Episodes every Wednesday, welcome to season two!
In this episode, Amsterdam-based Senior Principal at Software Improvement Group (SIG) Rob van der Veer and I discuss AI readiness.
Rob is an experienced technologist, advisor, successful entrepreneur, and keynote speaker. He is the author of AI standards including ISO/IEC 5338 and the EU AI Act security standard.
We discuss the importance of buy-in, learning, a sociotechnical approach to AI adoption, guardrails, the GAIL method, and more.
Rob is the author of SIG's recent AI readiness guide, which you can download here for free. SIG's AI readiness guide equips organizations with practical steps to navigate challenges and capitalize on opportunities with AI.
Rob is also the author of Luna and the Magic AI Paintbrush, a children's book about AI available in English, Spanish, and Dutch.
Other resources:
In this episode of Progression to Analog, listen to Harvard Business School Novartis Professor of Leadership and Management Amy Edmondson & Authentic Social Founder and Sociological Researcher Caitlin Begg speak about who has the freedom to fail, failure as a privilege, technology's tendency to exacerbate these issues, and what to do about them. This video is from their joint talk together at re:publica in Berlin on 28 May 2024.
Edmondson and Begg will explore the paradox of failure in the context of technological advancements, highlighting how digital platforms and AI can both facilitate and hinder equitable opportunities for failure and growth.
They'll address the critical role of organizational culture in creating spaces where failure is not merely tolerated but is seen as a vital component of learning and discovery.
The dialogue aims to dissect the mechanisms through which technology perpetuates workplace inequality and propose actionable strategies to mitigate these effects, fostering a more inclusive environment where all individuals have the liberty to fail and learn.
In this mini episode, I speak about the contents of my masterclass at MOME (an art an design university in Budapest) and session at Brain Bar (Europe's largest festival on the future).
Full-length season two episodes begin Wednesday 2 October!
In this season two trailer, I share milestones and insights from season one including:
I recap the first season of Progression to Analog and its three core themes:
AND... I outline some of the upcoming topics for season two!
Book recommendations; out-of-print technology magazines across nine decades; the spectacular and the everyday; what's next? (in terms of our relationship with tech); general reflections after getting home from doing one of the keynotes at AESC's Global Conference at Cornell Tech. My talk was called "From AI to Analog: A Balanced Approach to the New Digital Landscape".
On 26 April 2024, I delivered an educational seminar at Columbia University. This episode of Progression to Analog is an audio / video (slides) transcription of this talk on Neurodiversity in the Workplace!
By some estimations, neurodiverse people make up ~17-20% of the workforce. A myriad of studies and outlets such as Harvard Business Review highlight neurodiversity as a competitive advantage to be embraced in the future of work. For example, neurodivergent people tend to have higher chaos tolerance. In my seminar, (among other topics) I discussed how the unique abilities of neurodiverse individuals, such as hyperfocus, creativity, and exceptional pattern recognition, can dramatically enhance team performance and drive innovation.
I also highlight how "Progression to Analog" as a tool for neurodiverse workplace success. I will be following up with more tips related to this in a future episode of this podcast.
If you're listening to this via Apple Podcasts and want to see the slides, the talk may also be accessed on YouTube via this link.
On 28 May at re:publica in Berlin, Harvard Business School Professor Amy Edmondson and I (Caitlin Begg) will be speaking together in a joint talk called "Freedom to Fail".
Amy is 2x #1 Management Thinker in the World Per Thinkers50 and author of "Right Kind of Wrong," 2023 Financial Times and Schroder's Business Book of the Year.
In this short episode of Progression to Analog, we speak more about re:publica and our upcoming talk, which centers around who has the freedom to fail, failure as a privilege, technology's tendency to exacerbate these issues, and what to do about them. More about our upcoming talk here.
Founded in 2007, republica GmbH's re:publica Berlin is Europe's largest digital society festival. re:publica participants represent a cross-section of (digital) society, which include professionals from economics, politics, business, hacker culture, NGOs, media, and marketing, as well as bloggers, activists, artists, and social media experts.
