Smart machines are coming, so what are we doing about it?
Instead of cowering in fear, what if we took a proactive approach? What if there were a playbook we could use to anticipate and thrive in an increasingly automated world?
In his book, Only Humans Need Apply: Winners and Losers in the Age of Smart Machines, Thomas Davenport, offers ways to accomplish that goal. His book is a guide for employees and students who want to know what they can do to work successfully with smart machines.
Tom is a Professor in Management and Information Technology at Babson College and co-founder of the International Institute for Analytics. He is also a Fellow of the MIT Initiative on the Digital Economy and a Senior Advisor to Deloitte Analytics. He teaches analytics and big data at Babson, Harvard, MIT, and Boston University and has written over 17 books
In this interview, we talk about:
- What the number of bank tellers working today can tell us about smart machines
- 10 reasons to look over your shoulder for smart machines in your own work
- What separates humans from machines
- The 4 markers of machine smartness and which one we are living now
- Why employers should aim for augmentation vs automation wherever possible
- How smart machines can liberate us to do more creative and valuable work
- Augmentation at its best in freestyle chess
- How we can step in with machines in the workplace
- Why we would want to step up with machines in the workplace
- What it looks like to step forward with machines in the workplace
- How we might step aside with machines in the workplace
- How some are stepping narrowly with machines in the workplace
- Why every organization needs an Automation Leader
- Why we need to get past STEM as the only solution
- The important role organizations play in providing professional learning
- Why Tom argues against universal basic income
- How companies can be more resilient in a digital age with increased competition
- The fact that so few of our political leaders are talking about this big shift
Episode Links
Oxford Study on The Future of Employment
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