This week, data literacy will be the most in-demand skill by 2030.
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Your Data Initiatives Can’t Just Be for Data Scientists
Without buy-in from your company’s rank and file, even the cleverest AI-derived model will sit idle and “data-driven decision-making” will just go around in circles.
Companies need to start seeing regular people as part of their data strategy.
Data teams must work with regular people every day, develop a feel for their problems and opportunities, and embrace their hopes and fears surrounding data, then focus on equipping people with the tools they need to formulate and solve their own problems.
They should also ask two questions with each data project:
1) Who will this affect? And
2) How can we get them involved as soon as possible?
Deep generative models could offer the most promising developments in AI
This article is contributed by Rick Hao, lead deep tech partner at pan-European VC Speedinvest.
With an annual growth rate of 44%, the market for AI and machine learning is drawing continued interest from business leaders across every industry. With some projections estimating that AI will boost the GDP of some local economies by 26% by 2030, it’s easy to see the rationale for the investment and hype.
Among AI researchers and data scientists, one of the major steps in ensuring AI delivers on the promise of enhanced growth and productivity is through expanding the range and capabilities of models available for organizations to use.
And top of the agenda is the development, training and deployment of Deep Generative Models (DGMs) — which I consider to be some of the most exciting models set for use in industry. But why?
4 things you need to know about the metaverse this week
A visitor tries the “metaverse Service” at SK Telecom stand during GSMA’s 2022 Mobile World Congress, in Barcelona, Spain.
1. Meta trials voice-controlled AI bot to simplify building metaverse environments
The metaverse will require the construction of virtual reality spaces on a scale never seen before. Facebook owner Meta Platforms recently demonstrated a new AI bot that allows users to add elements to virtual spaces using only voice commands. Meta says a revolution in computing will be required to build the metaverse. Simplifying the process of constructing virtual spaces should speed the development of the virtual worlds that Meta and others are looking to create.
You can see Meta’s demo of the bot below:
AI maps psychedelic ‘trip’ experiences
– opening new route to psychiatric treatments
For the past several decades, psychedelics have been widely stigmatized as dangerous illegal drugs. But a recent surge of academic research into their use to treat psychiatric conditions is spurring a recent shift in public opinion.
Psychedelics are psychotropic drugs: substances that affect your mental state. Other types of psychotropics include antidepressants and anti-anxiety medications. Psychedelics and other types of hallucinogens, however, are unique in their ability to temporarily induce intense hallucinations, emotions and disruptions of self-awareness.
Researchers looking into the therapeutic potential of these effects have found that psychedelics can dramatically reduce symptoms of depression and anxiety, PTSD, substance abuse and other psychiatric conditions. The intense experiences, or “trips,” that psychedelics induce are thought to create a temporary window of cognitive flexibility that allows patients to gain access to elusive parts of their psyches and forge better coping skills and thought patterns.
New Tools Measure Green IT, Sustainability Success
How can IT leaders know if they’re tracking greenhouse gas emissions comprehensively? The introduction of AI and machine learning are painting a clearer picture.
As companies attempt to take sustainability to the next level and gain a more complete view of their greenhouse gas emissions, there’s a growing need to quantify results and track progress.
“If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it,” says Autumn Stanish, associate principal analyst at Gartner, Inc. “In order to take initiatives to the next level — particularly as organizations look to expand beyond Scope 1 and Scope 2 tracking — there’s a need for more advanced and granular measurement tools.”
It’s no small problem. Boston Consulting Group (BCG) reports that while 85% of companies are interested in reducing their emissions, only 9% of companies measure their total emissions comprehensively. Worse, only 11% have reduced their emissions in line with their goals over the last five years.
Featured Article
Data literacy to be the most in-demand skill by 2030
As AI transforms global workplaces, new research shows that data literacy will be the most in-demand skill by 2030.
Article by @ITBrief
According to research from Qlik, a little over one in five employees believe their employer is preparing them for a more data-oriented and automated workplace (21%). This is despite most business leaders predicting an upheaval in working practices due to the rapid onset of AI.
The report, Data Literacy: The Upskilling Evolution, found that 35% of employees say they had changed jobs in the last 12 months because their employer wasn’t offering enough upskilling and training opportunities.
Developed by Qlik in partnership with The Future Labs, the report combines insights from expert interviews with surveys from over 1,200 global C-level executives and 6,000 employees. The findings, broadly consistent across all geographies surveyed, show how the rapid growth in data usage extends enterprise aspirations for its potential and, in turn, transforms working practices.