Latest / Cutting Through with Natasha Plowman / Cutting Through with Athena Peppes
Transcript
- 0:05In Season 3 of Cutting Through, we're asking the question, how
- 0:09do you cut through with humanity in the age of AI?
- 0:13Because the first time in history machines are imitating
- 0:16us. They're writing like us,
- 0:18speaking like us, creating like us.
- 0:21And the question suddenly, everywhere is, what does it mean
- 0:24to be human when the machines can do the same things we do?
- 0:28In this series, we're exploring that question from different
- 0:31angles, Not with the usual voices, and not with the same
- 0:34predictable panel of experts, but with people who see the
- 0:37world differently. Season 3 is supported by
- 0:41antiquotage.com, a platform built to challenge the sameness
- 0:45of expertise by helping media, podcasts and events discover new
- 0:49voices and new perspectives. Because if we're going to talk
- 0:52about the future, we'd probably need a broader set of people
- 0:55shaping the conversation. This is cutting through.
- 1:00Welcome to cutting through with Natasha Ploughman today.
- 1:03I have Athena Peppers now Athena is leads the research for a
- 1:07small start up called Boss Up AI.
- 1:10Boss Up AI really focuses on AI readiness for enterprises.
- 1:13But a bit I love about it is they're also focusing on young
- 1:16people and how to get young people ready for the future of
- 1:19work. A group that we know has been
- 1:21neglected. We've seen the stats about them.
- 1:23There's so much we know to do with young people, but this is
- 1:25all part and parcel of the discussion around what role does
- 1:29AI play with humans and how do we cut through with humanity in
- 1:33the age of AI. So welcome to cutting through,
- 1:36Athena. So First off, tell us a bit more
- 1:40about yourself. What makes you you?
- 1:42Thank you, Natasha, and thank you for having me.
- 1:46As you said, this is something that I'm very passionate about
- 1:50in terms of helping, you know, young people in particular get
- 1:54AI ready and kind of have an empowering conversation around,
- 1:59you know, helping them embrace the technology rather than be
- 2:03left out of its transformative potential.
- 2:07The reason why that drives me is because I've got a six year old
- 2:10son. And so I think a lot of the
- 2:13world that we live in nowadays is very short term focused.
- 2:17We need to have a bit of a longer term focus in the way
- 2:20that we do things and the decisions that we make as
- 2:24individuals, leadership makes in organisations so that we can
- 2:28shape that future for them. And I guess that drives a lot of
- 2:33my other work. I actually started my career as
- 2:38an economist, then moved to Accenture where my work kind of
- 2:43started bringing in foresight as well and helping companies think
- 2:48about how emerging trends are really going to transform their
- 2:51business. And over the last couple of
- 2:54years I've got, I've got a portfolio of work.
- 2:58I work with Boss Up AI, as you mentioned, which is a start up
- 3:03kind of pioneering measures of AI readiness.
- 3:06And I'm also director of futures at a company called Beacon
- 3:10thought leadership that I Co founded with some ex Accenture
- 3:14colleagues as well. And then also, yes, speaking and
- 3:18raising awareness so that people can have that more empowering
- 3:22conversation around AI. Because I feel a lot of a lot of
- 3:25it is quite divided. Like are you a pessimist, an
- 3:28optimist? And that's kind of unhelpful to
- 3:30everyone. And it is that whole binary that
- 3:34we seem to be in on everything at the moment.
- 3:36It is. It's good, bad, right?
- 3:38Wrong. There's no messy middle, which
- 3:40is the reality of where so many people are.
- 3:43And that just breeds confusion. And it breeds, you know,
- 3:47distrust because they don't know who to believe.
- 3:49And this is this whole element of trust is becoming such an
- 3:52important consideration that we're not talking about.
- 3:56We just know we don't trust things and we don't trust
- 3:58people. So I find that kind of how to
- 4:01navigate that nuance is, is something that, you know, it's
- 4:04just seems to be lost at the moment.
- 4:06I mean, be great. Do you have a silver bullet?
- 4:09How do we actually get people to think more beyond the binaries
- 4:12that we have at the moment? I think I think it's, you're
- 4:17right. We've kind of seem to be losing
- 4:19that ability to have more nuanced conversations and kind
- 4:23of even raising, you know, kind of concerns about the
- 4:29technology. You're immediately kind of
- 4:32lumped into the Ladai camp. And I've seen some organisations
- 4:35say, you know, if you, if you're an AI sceptic, we don't want you
- 4:39here. And that seems weird to me
- 4:43because in a way the sceptics are the ones you need to
- 4:46convince and bring along and they're raising kind of valid
- 4:50concerns that you need to be thinking about.
- 4:54I think the the way around it is to give people 1/3 option,
- 4:57right? To give them something else to,
- 4:59to focus on. So that's why for me, it's not
- 5:04are you an optimist? Are you a pessimist?
- 5:07Is are you AI ready? And what I mean by that is not
- 5:11necessarily, you know, do you spend a lot of time prompting
- 5:15Claude or do you use Cha Chi Petit to write all your posts,
- 5:18which is a nightmare. But more, do you understand what
- 5:24value do you bring as a human in the workplace that nobody can
- 5:28take away from you? You know, the the empathy that
- 5:32you can bring towards your peers, for example, or the
- 5:36people that you lead? AI can't replace that.
- 5:40And in a sense, it kind of makes it even more important to have
- 5:44that empathy critical thinking. We know that with AI usage and
- 5:50kind of increasing AI usage, that ability to reflect and
- 5:54question things gets lost. So how can you make sure you
- 5:58don't kind of fall into the trap of cognitive atrophy and
- 6:02strengthen your critical thinking?
- 6:04So for me, giving people this focus on are you AI ready?
- 6:07What does that look like? What is the job of the machine?
- 6:11But what is unique to you? What do you bring to the table?
- 6:15That's where the conversation should be.
- 6:18I love that and I love that whole approach around really
- 6:21understanding what you bring as a human and we and it someone I
- 6:26saw someone post the other day on LinkedIn like the word of the
- 6:28year already is human and I was kind of like, Oh God, I use that
- 6:32a lot as well. Oh God, I'm kind of like, I
- 6:33think, but and then I think this is exactly the conversation we
- 6:37should be having having. And I find it really frustrating
- 6:42in a way that we are having it and we are debating it.
- 6:45But I think it will make us stronger and make us more aware,
- 6:48both from, you know, just socially and understanding human
- 6:52connection and human and the human attributes around
- 6:56collaboration and connection and being together and what it means
- 6:59to be in real life. But from a work context, being
- 7:02really clear about the things that humans add so much more
- 7:06value to. And, and I, and, and it's also
- 7:09that whole debate around it's everyone's going to AI is going
- 7:12to take all these jobs and things.
- 7:14You know, there's going to be either dire world or new world
- 7:18order. But it does give us an
- 7:20opportunity to start questioning and debating where we use our
- 7:24time best and how do we measure a society in a different way.
- 7:28So the optimist in me thinks we could shape a different future
- 7:32that is much more human centric. But then the pessimist in me is
- 7:38scared shitless that we're going to have, you know, looking at
- 7:41who's in leadership around the world, looking at the
- 7:43divisiveness that seems to be the focus that we're not.
- 7:47And it feels like we're at a real turning point right now
- 7:51that we either can take the reins as, you know, a human
- 7:54population or we let the rains be taken away from us.
- 7:58And then whatever happens, happens to the kind of the AI
- 8:02gods, I suppose. So that was a bit of a, a bit of
- 8:07a rant on my part. So we'll get back to the
- 8:09conversation at hand and I'm kind.
- 8:12And I suppose the next question for you is like, well, what do
- 8:14we, you know, how do we actually get people to kind of think of
- 8:19these abstract conversations about what is meant to be human
- 8:22in, in kind of work or social? So we can, we can breakthrough
- 8:27that, that that binary focus we've got at the moment.
- 8:30Have you got some examples of where that's really had a
- 8:32turning point for people? Yeah.
- 8:34So it just to, to kind of tie the, the end from what you said
- 8:39before that I, I also find this kind of discussion of like what
- 8:45it means to be human quite fascinating.
- 8:49Because in a way, what, what the publication or kind of what the
- 8:54availability of generative AI tools in all our hands kind of
- 8:59has done with the release of Cha Chi PT is created an existential
- 9:03crisis for us, right? Because a lot of the things that
- 9:07we thought were just the remit of humans, you know, all of a
- 9:12sudden can be done very quickly and cheaply.
- 9:18They're not necessarily I think better from what we've seen.
- 9:21So, you know, I think coming back to that kind of human
- 9:26element where I'm seeing quite a lot of in the publishing world,
- 9:30for example, I don't know if you've, if you've seen in the
- 9:32news, there was a London book fair last week.
- 9:35And they've introduced this idea of a human authored kind of mark
- 9:41on books just to show to people that a human wrote this.
- 9:45Because we're increasingly valuing the fact that people
- 9:49spend time, you know, putting that book together.
- 9:52It's it comes from lived experience, from talking to
- 9:56other people, from you observing those patterns.
- 9:58And we attribute greater value to that.
- 10:01And I thought that was quite interesting because it was a
- 10:04sign of agency and to your point, people taking matters
- 10:07into their own hands. So it's all part of the same
- 10:11conversation. I think that once we realise
- 10:15that that binary conversation is unhelpful, once we start
- 10:19focusing on, well, what does it mean to have a world in which
- 10:22humans and machines and you know, or human and artificial
- 10:25intelligence coexist, then we start getting into the detail of
- 10:29right. Well, AI is very good at
- 10:32recognising patterns, right, in large amounts of data.
- 10:36But whether that pattern matters or not, that contextual
- 10:40awareness is for you to to bring to the table.
- 10:44Only you can do that because only you know what matters to
- 10:48your business, your life, whatever aspects you're using
- 10:51the AI tool for. So yeah, I think it's we're
- 10:55increasingly seeing some of that.
- 10:58I can give you another example that I'm really kind of
- 11:01passionate about because it comes from the like the
- 11:03economics world. So a lot of them economists,
- 11:06when they look at the impact that AI is going to have on the
- 11:09workplace, they take a role, they break it down into its
- 11:12tasks. And then they, they kind of look
- 11:16at the values, look at the, they attribute what proportion of
- 11:19that task can be done by a machine, what proportion of the
- 11:21task can be done by human. Now, I don't know about you, but
- 11:26I I understand the kind of validity of that being used for
- 11:29analytical purposes. But is really your work just an
- 11:34accumulation of your tasks in a day?
- 11:38I would argue not. There's so much more.
- 11:41Yeah. And I think that's a really
- 11:42important point, particularly because this is fundamentally A
- 11:45disruption for knowledge workers.
- 11:47And you know, and I was thinking as you're speaking, I think, you
- 11:50know, the value we approach to things that are handmade, Like
- 11:53we want handmade shoes or handmade clothes or handmade
- 11:57products because we feel that much more care and attention has
- 12:01been and put into them. And so that's something that we
- 12:04can relate to and understand. And now for knowledge work is
- 12:07like, well, what is it about knowledge work that really needs
- 12:09that human touch? And so much for that for me is
- 12:13leadership and collaboration and building bridges and thinking at
- 12:16things from a different point of view and thinking it and, and
- 12:19bringing disparate and divergent voices into conversations so we
- 12:24can try something else. I mean, yes, technology can get
- 12:29loads of data, but to your point I love that.
- 12:31But only humans can really contextualise it with something
- 12:34else, which I think is a really nice way of putting it.
- 12:37Yeah, no, I was just going to add something that I've seen.
- 12:42So one of the dimensions that we measure in, in the boss up AOI
- 12:49algorithm, which is called the agent boss score, is around
- 12:54strategic thinking. Because the idea there is that
- 12:58you know, that's going to be a very critical skill because for,
- 13:04for entry level workers all throughout, you know, your, your
- 13:07career, because what you're bringing to the table there is
- 13:11the ability to kind of look at the bigger picture, that
- 13:15commercial awareness where the business environment is heading,
- 13:19being able to understand well, how do you kind of align the
- 13:25capabilities of, of AI and humans to deliver in your
- 13:29strategic vision and that long term vision.
- 13:32You have to decide that. And that's actually something
- 13:36that we measure in the algorithm.
- 13:37And I've done quite a few talks represent this to, to kind of
- 13:42teams. It's one that I think people can
- 13:46struggle with quite a lot. Like we get them to the
- 13:49algorithm is more sophisticated, gets them to, you know, it's
- 13:51based on, on data. But for the purposes of the
- 13:54talk, I might get them to think about how do they do this.
- 13:58And this is something that, yeah, I think a lot of people
- 14:01just find quite difficult, particularly earlier on in their
- 14:05careers, because they assume it's something that only you
- 14:09bring to the table. And when you've got years and
- 14:10years of experience, but to a point before about what is your
- 14:14unique competitive advantage in the marketplace, that's where a
- 14:18lot of young people have the opportunity to focus on when
- 14:21they go for for interviews and graduate schemes and what have
- 14:25you. And I think that whole point,
- 14:27particularly for young people, is they've been told for so many
- 14:30years to do kind of vocational skill sets.
- 14:33And, you know, we've seen the humanities and the arts and the,
- 14:37the, the degrees or the kind of the approach to thinking which
- 14:41allows that critical analysis to almost be downgraded.
- 14:44And the arts are an amazing way to bring that kind of unique way
- 14:49of viewing the world to the fore.
- 14:51I mean, my degree was an arts degree.
- 14:53I majored in like social sciences and, and Policy Studies
- 14:57a long time ago, granted, But the but one thing I say about my
- 15:00degree, though, is it taught me how to think.
- 15:03It taught me that one person's view isn't necessarily the only
- 15:07view and you need to be able to look at things differently.
- 15:10And I suppose this is another conversation around the
- 15:13algorithm and kind of the AI tools is that it has baked in
- 15:17bias to it. It, you know, it determines A
- 15:20viewpoint and we assume it's divergent and we assume it kind
- 15:24of has this wide reach that we we won't necessarily have and
- 15:28we've never had, I think in realistically, but it also
- 15:32doesn't, and I think that's also an intervention around how do we
- 15:35ensure that, you know, we are intentionally seeking diverse
- 15:40viewpoints either by gender, by socio economic status, by
- 15:42ethnicity, by location of where people come from, because the
- 15:46technology is still largely, you know, by grow men from the
- 15:52States and it's kind of built on that.
- 15:54So is that something we we can really intentionally start
- 15:57forcing a change in? Yeah, I think you're right.
- 16:02I see that, you know, a lot of what the data is trained on it.
- 16:07Just what came to my mind was an example from when when I first
- 16:12started using ChatGPT, when it first came out.
- 16:15You know, there was so many of these things coming out where
- 16:17you ask it for an example, like to create an image and then
- 16:21inevitably the image of ACO was always, you know, a white middle
- 16:25aged man. And in a sense, well, who's to
- 16:29blame in in that situation, right?
- 16:31Because the model is not willingly, you know, bias.
- 16:36It's just that what that's what we've trained it on to to your
- 16:39point. So I think there is, you know,
- 16:42they're a mirror of our world in in many ways.
- 16:46I think that's scary thought in itself, but it means if we know
- 16:49that, then we can do something more to change.
- 16:52It exactly, which is why, you know, this ability around like
- 16:57of being able to critically think and interrogate the
- 17:01outputs that come from AI tools, you know, and questioning what
- 17:07baked in assumptions are there, just taking that moment to
- 17:12reflect. And I think the risk is that AI
- 17:15is really speeding up the way that we do things.
- 17:19We're expected. We've got these like God like
- 17:21tools in our hands. So we should be doing things
- 17:23faster. And in reality, what we should
- 17:26be doing is slowing down and really interrogating,
- 17:30questioning, critically thinking about them.
- 17:32I think that's how we we kind of protect against those biases,
- 17:38which, you know, without kind of they definitely exist.
- 17:44That's something that we're thinking about a boss up as
- 17:46well. How can we make sure we're
- 17:48constantly, you know, evolving the, the algorithm, testing it
- 17:53against different groups? It's a work in progress, right?
- 17:56I think the the starting point is recognising that it's not
- 17:59perfect and then always working to to improve it.
- 18:02Yeah. And I think that's the important
- 18:04point because we had this conversation yesterday at an
- 18:07event we recently held around the baked in buyers.
- 18:09And you know it was, it was a fascinating conversation around
- 18:12which of the levers we need to start pulling.
- 18:14And you got some kind of people are like, well, it's not
- 18:17working, it's never going to work.
- 18:18It's based on a history. We need to draw from it our
- 18:20money and our agency of where we spend money enables us to force
- 18:24change. And then there's the other
- 18:25school of thought around. We need to invest more money in
- 18:28it, but get the diversity of that money.
- 18:30So, you know, for, for women, for example, VC funding is so
- 18:33small that goes to women and get women much more actively asking
- 18:36these questions and engaging in. Just because women are having
- 18:39the conversation doesn't necessarily mean it will change
- 18:41things, but hopefully a critical mass will also force a different
- 18:46change. And, and I like how you said,
- 18:48sometimes you just need to slow down and just, and not be
- 18:51getting to this hamster wheel of information overload, which we
- 18:56are all in at the moment. We feel like we, we're supposed
- 18:59to know everything because it's available and it's just not
- 19:03humanly feasible for us to. And again, it's that binary of
- 19:07withdraw or go all in. And there is a middle bit, isn't
- 19:11there of just assessing an awareness that we need to kind
- 19:14of be focusing on more. Is that where we need to be kind
- 19:17of really the conversation needs to be going towards?
- 19:20Yeah. I think it's, it's kind of the,
- 19:24the middle ground is around realising you have agency and
- 19:27you have a choice ultimately, and neither of those paths
- 19:30involve a choice, right? So, but once you realise that
- 19:34you have a choice, I think then you almost see things quite
- 19:38differently. Um, so I, I, I see your point as
- 19:43well around so much of the narrative that's being fed to us
- 19:47is, you know, you're going to be, you're, you're dispensable,
- 19:52you're replaceable, you're going to be automated, you're going to
- 19:54be out of a job. I mean, the reality is though,
- 19:57that, you know, as any student of history or foresight knows.
- 20:03The world is littered with such predictions that are wrong.
- 20:06We you can't predict, you can anticipate, you can think about
- 20:09what the future might look like, and that's very valuable, 100%.
- 20:15But a narrative that portrays this as very deterministic, like
- 20:19this is what is going to happen. That is something that I don't
- 20:24believe in. I think the way to position is
- 20:27to say this is the risk, this is the opportunity you choose, you
- 20:32know, and kind of shape your your path.
- 20:35And I mean, just for a small kind of think about, you know,
- 20:42like what's up groups that you're a part of when people are
- 20:44like, I use this tool and I use that tool and I use this tool
- 20:46and this like transformed my. And you know, sometimes that can
- 20:50just cause you to feel very overwhelmed and like you're left
- 20:53behind. And Oh my goodness, I should
- 20:56also be, you know, doing all of this.
- 20:59And then but, but that's because your, your brain is kind of
- 21:03speeding up and thinking this once you take a moment to pause
- 21:05and say, hold on a second, but what what is the problem?
- 21:09That tool would sell for me or why do I need it or what?
- 21:14Then, you know, the conversation changes.
- 21:17You're in the driver seat. You get to decide.
- 21:20I got given, I mentioned to you before the start of our
- 21:23conversation, I handed in the manuscript for my book a few
- 21:27days ago and I remember, yes, definitely.
- 21:31But I remember when I started writing, I was just like
- 21:33inundated with advice on use Scriven.
- 21:37I used this tool, use that tool and I actually wasted time
- 21:42thinking about which tool to use.
- 21:44And then I realised, you know what, what works for me is like
- 21:48Word and my notebook and my brain.
- 21:51And that's what works for me. And I'm OK with that.
- 21:54And once I realised that was my choice and that's what I want to
- 21:57do, you know, that's all of a sudden very different.
- 22:01And everything else is a tool. But I'm the one choosing, I'm
- 22:04the one in the driver's seat and you have agency.
- 22:08So I think that's quite powerful.
- 22:10I think that's hugely powerful because yes, there are those
- 22:13WhatsApp groups and they are incredibly overwhelming and
- 22:16incredibly dominated by particular small group of men as
- 22:19well. But that's decide the point.
- 22:22But that, but it is, and I look at it as well, but I think
- 22:24around for me and my own work, yes, I use some tools for some
- 22:27things, but ultimately the biggest part of my work is
- 22:30getting people to talk to each other in a better way and
- 22:33communicate with each other in a more authentic, open, honest way
- 22:37to build bridges, to build collaborative workplaces and for
- 22:39leaders to, to show up to their teams and to the organisation at
- 22:45large in a more authentic and, and human way.
- 22:48Because that's the word of the year.
- 22:50And I think, and, and it is that bit about being intentional
- 22:54about the, the, the tools that we use, because it's always
- 22:57going to change. But the other point I love that
- 22:59you talked about just there was around that these conversations
- 23:04about the end of the world are not new.
- 23:08And there seems to be something in the human condition to always
- 23:11want to predict or to prophesize about the end of the human race
- 23:16in some way. And something's going to take it
- 23:18over. And we see it in sci fi, but we
- 23:19also see it was it absolutely in human conversation.
- 23:23And I was talking to someone yesterday about the same
- 23:25conversations that happened in the industrial revolution around
- 23:28machines. Kind of then all work will
- 23:31change. And that was the born of
- 23:33knowledge work. And then we've got now knowledge
- 23:36work that's completely going to go.
- 23:38So what is and I think none of us know what's going to replace
- 23:42it, but I think we all feel, but we have to feel optimistic that
- 23:46something is. And and I think there are some
- 23:49really interesting examples around kind of human connection
- 23:53and real life connection that's that's going to grow that needs
- 23:56to be monetized in some kind of way.
- 23:58Yeah, no, you know, I think that the point around people needing
- 24:02human connection even more because we've got these kind of
- 24:07tools is so important. Just think about like how many
- 24:11events and conferences and you know, all sorts of things are
- 24:14springing up or in person training events around AI, even
- 24:19though you can just go on YouTube, right and and kind of
- 24:22just follow the course and do it yourself.
- 24:25But there's something quite powerful when you turn up in a
- 24:29room and you work on a problem and you kind of realise that
- 24:33you're in the same boat with other people.
- 24:35And what's different is that connection, the fact that, you
- 24:39know, we're social beings. We want to know that someone
- 24:42else is kind of perhaps struggling with the same thing
- 24:45or that they've solved it a different way.
- 24:47And you know, so I think that is definitely going to grow.
- 24:52Someone gave me an example of like the the travel kind of
- 24:56industry. You can watch, you know,
- 24:58everything. Basically videos of people
- 25:01walking around any city in the world on YouTube.
- 25:04But that hasn't stopped us from travelling the world to see it
- 25:07for ourselves, right? So it's touch.
- 25:09Feel It's all of our senses that need to be.
- 25:12To. Be kind of and I remember like
- 25:15one of a book that I kind of tell people about endlessly is
- 25:18like the David Eggers books. You've got the circle, which is
- 25:21the first one and then the every and you know, they were written
- 25:2515 or so years ago, so before all of this and it's predicting
- 25:29so much of what we're in now. But there was there's lots of it
- 25:32that I could go on about, but there's one part about not
- 25:35travel to your point around. And they used it as a way
- 25:38because of the climate and because of what's happening,
- 25:40climate change, that people shouldn't travel more.
- 25:42We should stop travel. Well, you can immerse yourself
- 25:45into these digital worlds. And I just because so much of
- 25:49travel is that connection and those moments you can't predict.
- 25:54And is there also something around just serendipity that
- 25:57we're striving and we're kind of really craving for because it's
- 26:02those conversations you aren't expected to have.
- 26:03Like I was in the queue at the airport and I never talked to
- 26:06people because I'm usually kind of at the airport, suddenly
- 26:08started talking to this person, had the most fascinating
- 26:10conversation. And I want to see more of that.
- 26:14I want to see more get off your phones and just kind of that
- 26:16serendipitous moments that we can have that can be a real
- 26:20element of hope for the future, do you think?
- 26:22Yeah. And I think quite a lot of that
- 26:26what I've seen comes from the the younger generation, I've
- 26:29been really encouraged to see their response to this, both
- 26:35worried and encouraged. And you know, to, to our earlier
- 26:39point that, you know, it's a, it's a topic and an area that
- 26:42creates a lot of emotions right at the same time.
- 26:45So I've, I've done quite a few talks at like graduate fairs at
- 26:51different universities and things like that because with
- 26:55Boss up, we're really trying to help that kind of graduates and
- 26:58entry level workers. So, you know, my son is 6.
- 27:03Most of the people that I talk to, I say at the same stage of
- 27:07my career. So it's been so illuminating to
- 27:10go and talk to these amazing 20 to 22 year olds and the stuff
- 27:15they come up with. So I was at the University of
- 27:18Arts London and they were showing me like their portfolios
- 27:21of work that they've created. And I still remember one of them
- 27:25said to me, well, I said, what inspired you to create, to
- 27:30create this? And they said, well, you know,
- 27:33how the world is flattening our personalities.
- 27:36And I was like, what do you mean?
- 27:39And they're like, you know, just social media and this kind of
- 27:41discussion around AI. We all feel like we're losing
- 27:44our personalities in the midst of that.
- 27:47And so this is my way, you know, that they'd come up with this
- 27:50concept. I'm not sure I can talk about
- 27:52it, but and a product that they wanted to pitch because it was
- 27:57very deeply kind of ingrained in that particulars particular
- 28:01person's personality. And I was like, great.
- 28:04So they're, they're channelling that kind of frustration and
- 28:08worry and concern into something creative and productive.
- 28:13And so I don't know what the what that would look like, but
- 28:16that's the bit that kind of made me think, ha, this is, you know,
- 28:20if these people are shaping the future, I'm encouraged.
- 28:23Yeah. Well.
- 28:23This is it. And I think we need to kind of
- 28:25really get those stories to bubble up more.
- 28:27We need to elevate that part of the conversation because that
- 28:30just sounds, you know, and this is where we could say the arts
- 28:33and creativity and individualism and, you know, they're all
- 28:36fundamental things about what makes us human.
- 28:39You know, we do not want humanity to become drones.
- 28:42And we've seen that through cycles of history where
- 28:45everyone's expected to look the same, act the same, be the same.
- 28:48But it's in the diversity of viewpoints and diversity of
- 28:53thought and lived experience that's going to give us that
- 28:56edge. Athena, I'm going to have to
- 28:58kind of slow us down there because there are so many things
- 29:01that we've talked about on this. As a last kind of point, like
- 29:05just tell us a little bit about your book that's coming up
- 29:07because that should be should be released very, very soon.
- 29:10Yes, well, the, the, the book is a reminder to me that the world
- 29:14is still very much physical, right?
- 29:16Because it takes time actually to to print the book and ship it
- 29:20around the world. And so it's, it's got different
- 29:23timelines than what what we're used to.
- 29:25So it's actually out in January and still some time to go.
- 29:29But just to give a brief overview of what it's about.
- 29:34The title is AIQ, the new leadership Imperative for the
- 29:37human plus AI era. And the argument in the book is
- 29:41that the problem that we're seeing around AI is, you know,
- 29:46as we've discussed, not necessarily are you an
- 29:48optimistic pessimist, is that people feel fear, doubt,
- 29:52overwhelm when it comes to AI. And those kind of emotions are
- 29:59creating a leadership vacuum. So what's happening is people
- 30:03are feeling all of those things, but in a way, when leaders are
- 30:07organisations are also feeling those things, then it stops them
- 30:12from acting and really thinking about how and where AI is using
- 30:16their organisation. And then it leads to things like
- 30:19where AI first, AI everything and which is not really, you
- 30:23know, in my opinion, leading, what leading should be about in
- 30:27the human plus AI era. So it puts forward a different
- 30:30way of thinking about this, which is AIK and like a new
- 30:34leadership capability. And it looks at how based on
- 30:39research and interviews I've done with different kind of
- 30:43functions and industry leaders, what are the ways in which they
- 30:47think differently, their mindsets, what are the abilities
- 30:51that really stand out and are going to be both timeless and
- 30:54timely? And then what are the practises
- 30:57like the, the things that operationalize this in their day
- 31:01to day and then their organisation.
- 31:03So that's it in a nutshell. We can.
- 31:06There's still some time to go, as I say, but.
- 31:08Yeah. And I can't wait to have another
- 31:09conversation in more depth because you know that this book
- 31:13is needed right now because all the conversations that I've been
- 31:17having around particularly leadership readiness and getting
- 31:21people comfortable in the workplace.
- 31:22And like you say, those breaking down those silos and looking at
- 31:26the future of work and looking at the future of business in a
- 31:29different way is the conversation that needs to be
- 31:31had more. It's not about replacing what
- 31:33is, but kind of looking to and shaping the future in a more
- 31:36holistic and kind of systems LED approach.
- 31:40Yeah, absolutely. What a fantastic conversation.
- 31:43Can't wait to see the book. Can't wait.
- 31:44And also can't wait to see you speak on May 7th as well if this
- 31:48goes out before that, which hopefully it will.
- 31:51And thank you very much for your time, Athena.
- 31:54Thank you. It's been a pleasure, Natasha.
- 31:56Thank you. You've been listening to Cutting
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