Artificial Intelligence and Natural Language Processing (NLP)

There is so much buzz about AI that most everyone has heard warnings of how artificial intelligence is going to take over the world.  The concern comes with the idea that, thanks to AI, machines can now “learn.”  Some think that if machines can learn, eventually they will become sentient… meaning they will be conscious, aware, and be able to feel.  While some of that is up for debate, the part about machines being able to learn is true and real… now.   With artificial intelligence, there are a wide range of tasks that can be done better and/or faster.  Here is some of what AI can do.

Artificial Intelligence and Image Recognition

Despite the avalanche of platforms and programs using Artificial Intelligence (AI) that have debuted in the last year, AI is not really “new.”  In fact, it has been a long time coming.   As early as 1949, Donald Hebb had developed Hebbian Learning, a possible algorithm for learning in neural networks, which is what today’s AI programs use.  And by 1955, Arthur Samuel at IBM had written the first game-playing program for checkers that could “learn” to play.  A computer that can learn is, by definition, artificial intelligence.  But those innovations were preceded by a century of mathematical and computational advances.  And, it took another 75 years for mathematicians, programmers, engineers and linguists to advance the field of computing and neural networks to produce the advanced AI platforms emerging now.  So for anyone paying attention, the advent of AI was surely no surprise.

Dealing with Isolation, Communication and Motivation

Remote work also known as Work-From-Home (WFH) has not disappeared from the workplace landscape.  Even now, long after the end of Covid restrictions, about 40% of U.S. employees work remotely either all the time or part-time.  But when asked, well over 90% of workers say they want to work remotely at least part-time in the future.  If anything, full-time or part-time remote work is expected to rise to over 50% by 2025.  So it seems WFH is here to stay. 

Using Environmental Priming to Boost Productivity

In 1996, John Bargh, Professor of Psychology and Cognitive Science at Yale University, did an experiment to see if he could influence behavior with a simple activity.  He and his team divided the participants in the study into three groups.  The first group were placed in the “Rude Condition”.  They had to unscramble a list of rude words like bold, aggressive, disturb.  The second group was placed in the “Polite Condition” and were given a series of polite words to unscramble such as patient, respect and respectful.  And the last group were in the “Neutral Condition”.  They were given words to unscramble that were neither polite nor rude.  When a participant in any of the three groups was done unscrambling the assigned words, they were instructed to walk down the hallway and tell the researcher they were finished. 

Recently, a high-powered attorney — who specializes in Employment Law, Non-Compete Defense, Trade Secrets and Partnership Breakups – shared a story about his recent attempt to book a room at a Mandarin Oriental Hotel.  One can guess that the story he shared was not a positive one.  He didn’t rave about their customer service.  He didn’t gush about how his interaction with this luxury hotel brand left him feeling warm and fuzzy.  If they had delivered on their brand promise, I doubt he would have posted anything at all. 

In sports, coaches are constantly telling athletes that they must embrace a winning mindset.  But this phrase is also heard in conference rooms and boardrooms throughout corporate America.  Leaders exhort their rainmakers, top performers and powerhouse salespeople to embrace a “winning mindset.”  It’s a phrase used in a cross-section of industries from education and technology to space exploration and scientific breakthroughs.  A winning mindset is helpful in any industry or field where people want to achieve excellence and continuous improvement.  But what is a winning mindset anyway?

Businesses are constantly trying to tackle big goals.  These are goals that they may be struggling to achieve.  Focus is often placed on the goal and how it was tackled in the past, but that is not always helpful.  In fact, that may very well be the problem.  Instead of focusing on the outcome, researchers have found that it’s much more effective to focus on actions most connected to achieving that goal and most likely to predict future performance.  Just supercharge the actions on the front end most likely to achieve the ultimate goal. 

Attracting and retaining labor is difficult.  In a tight labor market, it’s even more challenging.  And to hire top talent who can really transform a company, HR must offer something more.  It’s not enough to just do the basics like salary and typical benefits.  The most qualified candidates will interview the companies that are recruiting as much as the company is interviewing the candidates.  Candidates want to see that the employer will invest in developing the employee as much as the employee will invest in growing the company.  What does that look like?  This includes offering such perks as:

A 2023 Survey by Pew Research found that over 60% of current employees said they are or will start seeking new jobs within the next six months. Of those respondents, just 31% said they currently did meaningful work.  And, of those who plan to look for work, 72% said that they lack meaningful and satisfying work. 

It might seem obvious that staff who do work that is meaningful or gives a sense of purpose are more likely to stay in their current job.  So, it makes sense that an employer who wants to keep employees should simply assign work that is meaningful and gives employees a sense of purpose.  But that isn’t as simple as it sounds.

Learning is Growing; Growth Quashes Turnover

A recent study found that 94% of U.S. employees would stay at a company longer if the company invested in helping them learn.  Employees who are learning, growing and feel challenged at work stay in their current workplaces longer… even when offered better positions, pay and benefits.  That’s because, for employees, agility fuels career growth and relevance. And what is agility if not constant learning?  Employees therefore value working at companies that are committed to ensuring everyone has the tools, career paths, and the skills to succeed.  Learning and growth opportunities are so important to U.S. employees because they see Learning and Development (L&D) as a way to: