AI for Orchestrators - Newsletter #5

The latest AI insights for Business Leaders and Organisational Orchestrators

Staccato provocation…

The gap between scientific discovery and practical application is rapidly narrowing. So are the possibilities for optimising every other business workflow…

Hello Orchestrators!

In business we evolve as our tools evolve. And right now both sides are accelerating, driven by multiple feedback loops. New discoveries in applying GenAI across tasks and organisational boundaries are rising up through the structure, shifting mindsets and debunking old assumptions on what is possible with existing resources. At the other end of the organisational scale, its never been cheaper or easier to set up a business, but simultaneously its never been easier to copy and/or disrupt an existing one.

Removing friction and solving organisational and transactional inertia are going to be easier to address as we roll into ‘24. Yet at the same time as pioneers drive ahead empowering their teams and customers with improved products and services, very quickly the productivity improvement gap closes up. Why? Because new tools, often baked into the enterprise offerings from the big cloud and SaaS providers enable everyone to level up. So it’s a constant game of catchup…with high stakes.

Meanwhile, Open Source tools and the shrinking of LLMs able to run on a mobile are simultaneously spinning out new phenomena, putting GenAI creative power in the hands of globally distributed teams. LLMs running on mobiles and wearables, wired up to voice, vision and other sensors will open up new industries and create jobs that we can’t yet imagine. Who predicted all the platforms and apps that sprang up before the app stores triggered innovators creativity levels?

And of course many of us are eagerly anticipating the release of new generative capbilities this year in the form of Google Gemini Ultra, OpenAI, Meta and others bringing forth more scientific, mathematical and simulation capabilities The Ability to also discover new manufacturing processes together with the democratisation of molecule and material discoveries will open up a new chapter in science and practical application. And along with it the associated commercialisation, risks and ethical concerns that are bound to appear.

For now, lets take a trawl through this weeks key headlines worthy of a few seconds of your precious time, dear Orchestrators!

In todays email:

• Employees are the keys to driving new workflows.

• Materials, molecules and manufacturing…and other ‘24 predictions.

• Autonomous agents and AI trying to figure out how AI works.

• Decoding the brain. The opportunities and risks.

• Mobile LLMs

This weeks news:

• Generative AI is swiftly transforming from a tech buzzword into a daily helper in the workplace, much like a digital Swiss Army knife. According to this survey, a whopping majority of employees in big companies are now turning to AI for everything from making sense of data to summarising those never-ending email threads. And when it comes to specific tasks, like reading contracts for the legal eagles, AI is becoming the go-to whiz kid. It’s like telling the AI, "Pretend you're a legal guru with 20 years under your belt," et voila, it starts churning out insights without ever setting foot in law school. It’s this kind of clever, tailored use that's making employees, augmented by generative AI, the office MVPs…lots of them.

• Materials, molecules and manufacturing - ‘24 will be a rollercoaster year of opportunities and challenges. Check out the latest episode from the All-In Podcast where they discuss key trends and predictions for the year, including the ability to accelerate new scientific discoveries and manufacturing processes.

• Imagine trying to figure out how AI thinks – it's like asking your cat why it knocked over your favorite vase, but way more complex. Researchers have been playing detective with neural networks, which are essentially a tangle of digital brain cells, trying to understand their every move. It’s a bit like trying to solve a mystery where the clues are hidden in a maze of ones and zeros. Up to now, most of this sleuthing has needed a human touch, but the networks are getting so big and brainy that we need AI to investigate AI!

• What are the possibilities for helping patients with paralysis communicate and interact in a better way? Here, New Zealand rag readwrite reports on the latest brainwave science using non-invasive means from Australian researchers. In parallel there is lots of discussion about the risks of this AI tech being misused, specifically the loss of mental privacy.

• GenAI is about to significantly enhance our mobiles, opening up new possibilities by getting wired into all the other sensors we carry around in our pockets. The CEO of Qualcomm discusses with the FT (paywall article).

5 (rolling) questions for Orchestrators:

1. What GenAI strategies can your organisation implement to effectively explore and integrate new manufacturing processes?

2. How can your company contribute to the democratisation of molecule and material discoveries facilitated by GenAI, while maintaining a competitive edge?

3. What steps will you take to identify and address the commercial opportunities arising from advancements in science and practical applications?

4. How does your organisation plan to manage the risks associated with new scientific discoveries and their applications driven by GenAI?

5. What framework is your company developing to address the ethical concerns that may arise from new scientific and material advancements driven by GenAI?

Staccato Burst…

Compound effects, feedback loops, flywheel effects…

That’s all for this week. If you’re curious you can also check out more insights from The Nordic Bridge on YouTube on the organisational implications from applying (or not applying) GenAI…