I even considered taking today off and having a long weekend, but the number of great big ideas to consider motivated me to make the pod today.
I have to start with this – titled, “You’re Not Collaborating—You’re Just In Meetings All Day”, the founder and CEO of Switchboard argues that Meetings can drain productivity and cost the U.S. economy billions of dollars. Research shows that many employees see meetings as unproductive, and reducing them can significantly increase productivity. To improve collaboration and efficiency, we must rethink how we collaborate, embrace asynchronous work, and be more discerning about when meetings are necessary. Implementing an async-first mindset can lead to better documentation, more focused work, and fewer, shorter meetings.
Next, a pair. For context, UK authorities are investigating a case where a teenage girl claims her avatar was digitally gang-raped in a virtual reality game, raising questions about the prosecution of virtual crimes. The incident highlights the need to address sexual harassment and violence in the metaverse as virtual and augmented reality technology becomes more immersive.
And an argument in Immersive Wire that Publications should be cautious in reporting on metaverse crimes, focusing on the importance of investigating and avoiding questioning the validity of these crimes. Sensationalism and weak analysis should be avoided, and a deeper understanding of virtual crimes should be developed. The dismissive attitude towards the psychological harm caused by crimes in virtual spaces should be dispelled, and nuanced reporting can contribute to the development of relevant laws.
A piece in the Information titled “How to Build an AI-Enabled Service Company” discusses the potential of AI-enabled service companies, particularly in the category of “copilot for services.” While AI can help service professionals build and maintain client relationships more efficiently, standalone AI assistant software offerings are unlikely to succeed. Instead, copilots are more likely to be incorporated into existing software or co-opted by model developers.
And finally, from The New Stack, “7 Guiding Principles for Working with LLMs”. The principles include thinking out loud and talking to LLMs, never trusting, always verifying LLM output, recruiting a team of assistants, asking for choral explanations, exploiting pattern recognition, automating transformations, and learning by doing. These principles aim to help individuals effectively utilize LLMs in various domains, from technical problem-solving to writing and learning.
Why do we care?
There’s so much here. Linked to the review of remote work, meetings are not collaborations. Rethinking work is a key trend.
The laws of virtual are an area of interest if spatial computing and the related space are to become a productive norm.
Finally, two pieces specifically about how to build AI services seem right square in the realm of this audience’s interest.