Industry News

• In their new book “The Future Computed,” Microsoft president Brad Smith and EVP of AI and research Harry Shum discuss the future of artificial intelligence.
• They argue that one of “the most important conclusions” they drew was the need for more liberal arts majors in tech.
• As consumer-ready AI reaches human parity, they say, lessons from disciplines like psychology will be increasingly important.

In 2011, Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates told a panel of American governors that a liberal arts education would hold back college graduates in the modern economy.

A few days later, late Apple cofounder Steve Jobs declared that “it’s technology married with liberal arts, married with the humanities, that yields us the result that makes our heart sing.”

Seven years later, Gates’ company is siding with Jobs.

Microsoft president Brad Smith and EVP of AI and research Harry Shum wrote in their new book “The Future Computed” that “one of the most important conclusions” of Microsoft’s recent research into artificial intelligence is that lessons from liberal arts will be critical to unleashing the full potential of AI.

Smith and Shum wrote:

“At one level, AI will require that even more people specialize in digital skills and data science. But skilling-up for an AI-powered world involves more than science, technology, engineering, and math. As computers behave more like humans, the social sciences and humanities will become even more important. Languages, art, history, economics, ethics, philosophy, psychology and human development courses can teach critical, philosophical and ethics-based skills that will be instrumental in the development and management of AI solutions.”

The two executives imagine a world in which our daily lives will be inextricably linked to AI.

For example, developers of driverless cars are already confronting ethical challenges like how a car should rank safety priorities of passengers and pedestrians in unavoidable accidents.

Ultimately, Smith and Shum argued, teams developing new uses for AI with human parity will need to include members with both engineering and liberal arts backgrounds. And both sides will need to know aspects of the other, as well.

“If AI is to reach its potential in serving humans, then every engineer will need to learn more about the liberal arts and every liberal arts major will need to learn more about engineering,” Smith and Shum wrote.

You can download the book “The Future Computed” for free at Microsoft’s website. Print copies will also be available at the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting for 2018 in Davos.

SEE ALSO: Microsoft execs say in 20 years we’ll all have digital assistants that will be our alter egos — and we need to set ground rules while we still can

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Students Can Invent Anything They Can Imagine With Brackitz Building blocks are a staple in toy chests of boys and girls across the globe for decades. There hasn’t been a lot of innovation in construction sets in quite some time. Until now. Brackitz are unique, open ended construction toys that allow traditional planks to connect […]

The post SXSWedu 2018 Preview: Brackitz Brings A New Way To Build appeared first on Nibletz.

Company / App Name: OptiLingo https://www.optilingo.com Twitter – twitter.com/optilingo What does it do? OptiLingo is a site devoted to the optimal way to learn new languages. It is also the only place where you can find all of Assimil’s language programs for English speakers, offered at the best price available in the United States. Why […]

The post Pitch for OptiLingo appeared first on The Startup Pitch.

The niche sport of equestrian show jumping has caught the eye of some of the wealthiest people in the world.

For those who can afford to take part in competitions, show jumping offers millions of dollars of prize money and international glory.

In the US, some of the sport’s most high-profile participants are the daughters of Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Michael Bloomberg, and Bruce Springsteen.

But despite the high stakes and noteworthy names that compete, show jumping remains far outside the public eye.

Here’s a look inside the exciting, lucrative, and sometimes dangerous world of show jumping:

SEE ALSO: There’s a budding rivalry between the daughters of Steve Jobs and Bill Gates, Stanford classmates who compete outside of the world of tech

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Equestrian jumping has long been associated with royalty.

Only the wealthiest of families can afford to break into the sport. Today, prized horses can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. The cost of maintaining a horse can easily reach tens of thousands of dollars a month.

There are various equestrian disciplines, including dressage, eventing, and show jumping.

See the rest of the story at Business Insider

 “The consensus is that because blockchain is so niche and it’s mostly early adopters who come from tech and finance, that it’s actually less diverse than those industries that are already struggling to be representative of the population at large,” Raine Revere, co-founder of blockchain education startup Maiden, told me on an episode of the CTRL+T podcast. In… Read More

 With WPP’s over 200,000 employees and a $75 billion media book, Sir Martin Sorrell has a uniquely privileged insight into the future of the online advertising industry. And he believes that 2018 might be the year that a third company joins what he calls the Facebook/Google “duopoly” in online advertising and search. Read More

Have you ever wondered what products or apps you’re missing out on? It’s easy to find the most popular ones in a particular category—but what about the hidden gems? One of Product Hunt’s community members David Spinks has the same question. So, he asked other users: What’s one app you use a lot that most people don’t know about? The community responded with over 220 product recommendations. Here are 27 of our favorites—from a plug-in that helps you write better, to a Mac volume booster, to an automated website that tracks just about everything in your life. Read on for more…but be ready to…

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• Patty McCord is a former chief talent officer at Netflix. Now she runs her own consulting business.
• McCord’s new book is “Powerful: Building a Culture of Freedom and Responsibility.”
• She devised an algorithm for figuring out if your job is a good fit: you’re doing what you love to do, what you’re good at, and what the company needs.
• Deciding when to quit your job could come down to answering a few questions. 

“When should I quit my job — or should I just stay?” is the kind of career question you can debate forever.

The pay is great, but your work is boring, but your coworkers are nice, but your boss is a demon… And so on.

Patty McCord has a potential solution.

McCord was chief talent officer at Netflix; now she runs her own consulting business. She’s just published a book titled “Powerful: Building a Culture of Freedom and Responsibility,” in which she describes best practices for people management.

Toward the end of the book, McCord presents an algorithm that managers can use to determine whether an employee is a good fit at the company. Individual employees can use the same algorithm to figure out if — or when — it’s time to move on. Here it is:

Is this what the person loves to do, that they’re extraordinarily good at doing, something we need someone to be great at?

I spoke with McCord and she described three potential scenarios — or outputs of the algorithm, if you will.

Sometimes, she said, “You could be doing so much more and there’s stuff you’re really passionate about and the company just doesn’t care.”

Other times, “You’ve got a job you can do; you just don’t love it.”

In still other cases, “You work really hard every day and you know it doesn’t matter.”

If any of these scenarios sound familiar, it might be time to leave.

Deciding when to quit your job depends on your life circumstances

The tricky part of using this decision-making tool is that “the circumstances around making the algorithm true change constantly,” McCord said.

For example, early in your career you may want nothing more than to work 24/7 on something you’re passionate about. When you get older, you might have other responsibilities that need your attention; “you might want to have friends that are outside of the people that you work with every day.”

In that case, if your company needs you to stay until 8 o’clock every night, it might not be the right gig for you.

On the flip side, McCord said, if the company moves into a different business or its objectives evolve, the work you’re doing may no longer be crucial. (McCord said this is the most common scenario she sees.)

The algorithm McCord devised won’t necessarily spit out a yes/no answer — at least not immediately. But it’s a solid way to clarify the most important components of an ideal work experience, and takes some of the stress out of making a big career decision.

SEE ALSO: A simple but ruthless exercise reveals who your star employees are — and who should be fired

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• Millennials change jobs more frequently than previous generations.
• They might quit because they feel their work doesn’t have meaning.
• A manager can keep millennial workers from leaving by setting clear goals and assigning tasks that show an understanding of what drives them.

Millennials have a reputation as the “job-hopping” generation. In 2016, a Gallup poll revealed that 21% of millennials said they changed jobs within the past year (more than three times the number of non-millennials who reported the same), and 60% are open to new opportunities.

There’s a secret to keeping millennials workers from quitting, according to BetterUp, a startup that provides “virtual coaching” to tech company managers in Silicon Valley.

Millennials want to feel like their work has meaning.

“Americans, for better or worse, are spending more and more of their waking lives at work. So if they’re going to spend more time at work than with their family, at least let it be meaningful,” said Dr. Jacinta Jiménez, a psychologist who heads up the coaching department at BetterUp.

Data backs up the claim. Millennials in general work more hours, forfeit more vacation days, and retire much later than previous generations. They also make less money than their parents did at the same age. These conditions can result in burnout or a lack of engagement at work.

Jiménez says feeling that work has impact can be a huge motivating factor. A manager should set clear goals for their millennial workers and assign tasks that play to their strengths and passions. It shows an understanding of what excites them and trust in their abilities.

“You’re able to bring all of you to work. Your manager understands you as a person and your strengths. And that in itself can create meaning,” Jiménez said.

It might be enough to keep millennial workers from leaving.

SEE ALSO: These are the 3 skills that every manager should have, according to a Silicon Valley psychologist

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