The week's developments on automation & the workplace, explained | 18.03.24

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Is AI quietly eroding our well-being? Today's newsletter dives into a groundbreaking Future of Work study that seems to suggest just that. The research, surveying over 6,000 individuals, found that exposure to AI-based software, wearable trackers, and robotics had detrimental effects on employees' quality of life and health.

Elsewhere, Framery Oy reveals its latest workplace innovation — a pod that notifies your employer when stress levels rise, ageism looms over tech employees and the intriguing global divide in attitudes towards AI adoption.

Find these stories and more below — including how hybrid work is opening up more opportunities for women and our community spotlight featuring global strategic leader Maria Santacaterina.

CogX Must Reads

Top Stories

🤖 Workplace AI, robots and trackers are bad for quality of life, study finds. The research, conducted by the Institute for Work thinktank, surveyed over 6,000 professionals and identified the following key findings:

• Tech like AI and tracking linked to stress and health decline: Research suggests exposure to specific workplace technologies like AI and monitoring tools can negatively impact worker well-being.

• Traditional ICT tools show positive effects: Laptops, tablets, and instant messaging had a more favourable impact.

  
  

Dr. Soffia, the study's lead author, emphasises responsible implementation is key. She says factors like job insecurity and workload, not the technology itself, contribute to the decline in well-being. (The Guardian)

🌍 Are Western countries are more pessimistic about AI? The data shows that workers in Asia — particularly in India, Indonesia, and the UAE — are embracing AI tools to a far greater extent than their Western counterparts, with Americans among the least positive about AI's workplace applications.

 Source: Ryan Heath @ Axios.com

👀 Stressed employees beware: office phone booths may be watching Framery Oy, a manufacturer of office privacy booths, is testing sensors that can track the vital signs of employees using their pods, raising concerns among privacy experts. (Bloomberg)

Future of the Office

💼 Ageism looms large for older tech workers amid industry layoffs. Ageism, an open secret in the tech industry, is rearing its head as companies prioritise younger talent and culture fit. (Wired)

👩🏻‍💻 Is hybrid work opening up more opportunities for women? A new report from the International Workplace Group (IWG) reveals that hybrid work arrangements have created greater opportunities for women in the workforce. The survey found that 66% of women believe hybrid work has levelled the playing field for career progression. (HRD)

AI & Automation

🦾 How to stay relevant in the GenAI era? Breaking down jobs into tasks — and identifying areas where AI can assist, could help professionals succeed in an AI-driven workplace, experts say. (Forbes)

🇪🇺 European businesses lag in upskilling employees for the AI era, finds LinkedIn. Less than half of companies in the UK (44%), and just over a third in the Netherlands (36%) and France (38%), are actively supporting their employees in becoming AI-literate. (Euro News) 

💸  AI Is taking on new work. But change will be hard — and expensive. Adopting AI comes with numerous challenges, including regulatory uncertainties, added costs, legal challenges, and the need for huge amounts of organised training data. (WSJ)

Community Spotlight

Last week we had the pleasure of speaking with Maria Santacaterina, renowned author and global strategic leader, about her powerful new book.

"Adaptive Resilience" shines a light on complex systemic challenges and the Human-ai relationship, empowering business leaders to re-imagine the Enterprise, choose the right strategy and innovate their business models, transforming their organisations from the inside-out and outside-in.

Want to hear more from Maria? Connect with her on LinkedIn, purchase ‘Adaptive Resilience’ on Amazon, and check out her website here: www.santacaterinaconsulting.com  

Share your thoughts on how AI will shape the future of work! We'd love to hear them. Contact us on editors@cogx.live, and we'll feature them in next week's community discussion.

Productivity Boosters

 Check out this week's top AI tools to supercharge your productivity

	MyMemo is an AI-powered knowledge hub that brings together all your digital content and allows natural language querying for instant insights and information retrieval.   Key features:  Unified knowledge management platform Aggregates articles, links, screenshots, videos Built-in AI assistant, MemoAI                                       Pricing Model: Freemium
	BizPlanner.ai streamlines professional business plan creation with an AI-powered questionnaire that generates comprehensive, customised documents in minutes.   Key features:    AI-driven business plan generation Customised plans based on user input Comprehensive document creation                                                      Pricing Model: Paid
	OneCliq empowers content creators and businesses with an AI-powered suite of tools to streamline video editing, content generation, and competitor analysis.   Key features:  AI-powered content creation assistant Video resizing and formatting Clip trimming and splitting                                       Pricing Model: Freemium

In case you missed it

Watch Dr. Dale Whelehan, a behavioural science expert, as he delves into the transformative potential of a 4-day work week as a path to improved well-being, productivity, and societal health.

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