David Weitzner
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Biz prof. Founder: Artful Intelligence Institute. 📚Thinking Like A Human: The Power of Your Mind in the Age of AI. Blog: Managing with Meaning @PsychToday
Articles by David Weitzner
How to Throw the Right Kind of Party
Our productivity, creativity, and ability to build depend on having spaces to gather in. Creativity partially emerges from how we perceive old and new environments. Parties can sync brain waves, trigger serendipitous relationships, and allow happy accidents to happen. Source: Maor Attias/Pexels It’s been exactly one year since my book Thinking Like a Human: The Power of Your Mind in the Age of AI was released.
AI Doom Is Not Our Inevitable Future
Too many leaders are expressing hopelessness and fear about where the age of AI is taking us. Inevitability is sold by discounting active human agency and the constraints of social structure. We can disrupt prediction, quantification, and social engineering with artful thinking. I’ve been seeing and hearing far too many expressions of hopelessness and fear about where the age of artificial intelligence is taking us.
Uncomfortable About Creative Risks? Don’t Face It Alone
Source: Alana Weitzner/Used with permission Whenever I start to feel particularly worried about emerging cultural and political shifts, I invite inspiring creative innovators to gather and talk things out. Sitting alone, in front of my computer, and questioning a chatbot won’t help move me forward. AI can only generate what’s already been thought, so as a tool, it’s fairly useless in this context. And creative breakthroughs are more likely to happen in social settings.
Uncomfortable About Creative Risks? Don’t Face It Alone
Source: Alana Weitzner/Used with permission Sitting alone, in front of a computer, questioning a chatbot, doesn't really move me. When I start to feel worried about cultural and political shifts and need a push forward, my go-to move is to invite inspiring innovators to gather and talk things out. AI can only generate what’s already been thought of, so as a tool, it’s fairly useless in this context. And creative breakthroughs are more likely to happen in social settings.
AI Hype vs. Natural Intelligence Breakthroughs
When the creative minds of science fiction got us thinking about how AI might be introduced to the world, along with the impact it would have on unprepared societies, they didn’t imagine a tech industry dominated by algorithmic supremacists who put hype before science. Thinking back to cultural touchstones in novels and film, there seemed to be a general creative consensus around the expectation that, when the time would come to unleash an AI, Big Tech would undersell and over-deliver.
The One Simple Secret to Better Communication
Robert M. Krauss, an esteemed psychology professor, shared a joke he heard as a child from his maternal grandfather that would inform the direction of his career, although he didn’t know it at the time. The joke tells of two Jewish men walking through the frigid roads of Belarus on a particularly uncomfortable day. One of the pair can be seen and heard loudly chatting away, flailing his arms and signalling passionately. The other gentleman was quiet, offering only an occasional nod.
No, AI Is Not Better Than a Good Doctor
Source: Michael Berdyugin/Pexels Search the internet and you will find countless testimonials of individuals using AI to get diagnoses their doctors missed. And while it is important for individuals to take ownership of their healthcare and use all available resources, it is just as important to understand the process behind an AI diagnosis.
Why AI, Not Silly Videos, Might Be Brain Rot
Source: Brett Jordan/Pexels From its humble beginnings as YouTube content like skibidi toilet to the more exotic Italian iterations exemplified by TikTok’s Ballerina Cappuccina and Tralalero Tralala, brain rot has entered the mainstream of public consciousness. What was once a quirky cultural touchstone for Gen Alpha became the Oxford Word of the Year in 2024 as adults began to fear its effects on vulnerable young minds.
How BEAM Thinking Can Help You Think Like a Human
Source: Gantas Vaičiulėnas/Pexels The AI era gives us a unique opportunity to reimagine the very act of thinking. As I demonstrate in my new book, Thinking Like A Human: The Power of Your Mind in the Age of AI, our cognitive powers are drawn from many sources. If you think like a human, you will always have irreplaceable value. If you only think algorithmically... well, AI is probably better than you in that narrow function.
Think Like A Human: The Power Of Your Mind In An Age Of Ai Book By David Weitzner, ('tp')
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How Mindfulness Can Keep Us Human in the Age of AI
Source: Pavel Danilyuk/Pexels My new book, Thinking Like a Human: The Power of Your Mind in the Age of AI, lays out a new way of thinking that can improve how we work, create, and live. It empowers readers to outsmart AI, a tool that can never do what humans do. While we race headlong into a future where we outsource most of our problem-solving to artificial intelligence, the greatest threat is not superintelligent machinery.
Overcoming Trauma at the Table
Source: cottonbro studio/pexels As the Passover holiday season nears its closing days, I’ve been reflecting on the immense therapeutic value of the tisch, a wonderful Yiddish term that not only refers to an actual, physical table, but also the signifier for the Hasidic gatherings that would convene around the table on the Sabbath, holidays, or often just because.
A Lesson in Screaming
We are normalizing public screaming to our societal detriment. When confronted with this bodily assault, too many of us simply fold because we don't know how to process it. Knowing the truths of embodied cognition can better our defenses against these tactics. Source: Jan Kopřiva/Pexels Screaming is gaining power in social discourse because our overly rational culture is built on denying some important embodied realities.
Governments need to focus on AI’s real impact, not get caught up in the hype generated by Big Tech
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Governments need to focus on AI’s real impact, not get caught up in the hype generated by Big Tech
© 2024 Tolerance.ca ® Inc. All reproduction rights reserved. All information reproduced on the Web pages of www.tolerance.ca (including articles, images, photographs, and logos) is protected by intellectual property rights owned by Tolerance.ca ® Inc. or, in certain cases, by its author. Any reproduction of the information for use other than personal use is prohibited.
Governments need to focus on AI’s real impact, not get caught up in the hype generated by Big Tech
Statistics Canada recently released a detailed report estimating which professions are likely to be affected by artificial intelligence in the next few years. It concludes with an optimistic message for education and health-care professionals, suggesting that not only are they expected to retain their jobs, but their productivity will be enhanced by AI advancements.
Governments need to focus on AI’s real impact, not get caught up in the hype generated by Big Tech
Governments need to focus on AI’s real impact, not get caught up in the hype generated by Big Tech Statistics Canada recently released a detailed report estimating which professions are likely to be affected by artificial intelligence in the next …
3 Strategies for Listening to Music Mindfully
Source: David R. Wilson/ Used with permission Listening to music has been proven to give us a wellness boost. The activity enhances physical and mental well-being, improving our heart rate, motor skills, and even immune system. A musical work that demands listening with full body and mind, which ignites somatic awareness, is the most wonderous of experiences. With his band The Polyphonic Spree, rock musician Tim DeLaughter seems to repeatedly create albums of that calibre.
Business & Finance
How making money can fix the world A human being is a creature that looks at what is and sees the value of what could be. But how does this creature know? And from where does this new value come? In the wake of the latest business scandals in the news, let's go ahead and ask the real question that sits in the back of the head of every businessman with a conscience: Is business inherently at odds with ethics?
Bringing Mindfulness to Difficult Conversations
You can handle difficult conversations mindfully with an awareness of your motivations. Sometimes, we only fully understand the motivations behind our actions when we explain ourselves to others. Be mindful of your language and choose vocabulary that resonates with others. The best way to approach difficult conversations is to frame the experience as a need to tell better stories.
Re-Imagining Interdependence
The other day, I had the good fortune to sit on a panel with a very dear mentor, R. Edward Freeman. Forty years ago, Ed changed the field of business with his stakeholder thought experiment. He brought to the world of management new possibilities accessed by a novel vocabulary.
4 Steps to Creative Leadership
We know relatively little about the secret to building creative cultures. Far more is known about how creativity gets undermined by controlling leaders. To successfully lead for creativity, start by seeing the contingency and relational nature of your power. In management research, the most cutting-edge prescription for companies that somehow find themselves blessed with a culture supporting innovation is simply to nurture it.
What the Jewish Rip Van Winkle Can Teach Us About AI
Key points Big Tech wants to hide the story of all the people being exploited as they build the future. Human progress always relied on dreamers who knew the fruits of their labour will only be enjoyed by others. While meaningful work involves doing our part for the future, being recognized for our contributions is key. A brilliant just-published expose on the exploited people working tirelessly for $2-$3 an hour to create an illusion of automation at AI companies was heartbreaking on many levels.
Manage or Co-create? Time to Choose
By David Weitzner Today’s leaders have a choice to make: encourage their workers to be “partners in co-creation” or swim against the tide while clinging to the old paradigm of “management”. David Weitzner shares five reasons why co-creation is the way to go. It is time for those of us at the beating heart of business to make a choice.
Gen Z Tidak Percaya pada Sistem Korporasi dan Reformasi, Mereka Ingin Revolusi
Banyak institusi kapitalis saat ini menuai dampak buruk akibat politik kroni, keserakahan, dan pola pikir jangka pendek. Tapi, berbicara kapitalisme tak hanya tentang bobroknya saja, atau dampak negatif yang terjadi karena tindakan kelompok elite yang serakah. Merombak kapitalisme dimulai dengan reformasi, yang berarti memberlakukan perubahan-perubahan di dalam struktur yang ada.
Perubahan budaya korporasi butuh kaum muda yang melakukan reformasi jangka panjang - bukan revolusi semalam
Banyak institusi kapitalis saat ini menuai dampak buruk akibat politik kroni, keserakahan, dan pola pikir jangka pendek. Tapi, berbicara kapitalisme tak hanya tentang bobroknya saja, atau dampak negatif yang terjadi karena tindakan kelompok elit yang serakah. Merombak kapitalisme dimulai dengan reformasi, yang berarti memberlakukan perubahan-perubahan di dalam struktur yang ada.
Is Mindfulness a Trait, a Path, or a Process?
Key points A growing number of researchers are making the argument that mindfulness is best thought of as a variety of cognitive processes. The feature that distinguishes mindfulness from other traits, paths, or processes is its emphasis on attention united with awareness. Meaning-making emerges from this awareness by keeping biases out of people's in-the-moment perceptions. Mindfulness is in the news again. Forbes is asking whether mindfulness makes us selfish.
Algorithms Are a Poor Substitute for Human Decency
Key points Business ethics is back in vogue, but relying on AI makes it more complicated, expensive, and arbitrary, not morally sound. Perceptions of ethical risks when there is money to be made tend to be asymmetrical. Forecasts of anticipated future outcomes get rooted in scenarios of success rather than past results and have a tendency to be overly optimistic. Wrestling with ethics may make us feel uncomfortable, but outsourcing this messiness only exacerbates problems in the long term.
Commentary: Gen Z is right not to trust the system as it stands
TORONTO: Many of our capitalist institutions have been damaged by cronyism, greed and a short-term mindset. But capitalism is more than its faults and the unpleasant outcomes brought on by a selfish class. Revitalising capitalism begins with reform, which means introducing changes within the existing structure. However, the newest cohort to enter corporate life, Gen Z, has little confidence in the corporate system. They are unwilling to play a game where they don’t trust the rules or referees.
Our economic future depends on young reformers, not ineffective revolutionaries - Philippine Canadian Inquirer Nationwide Filipino Newspaper
Many of our capitalist institutions have been damaged by cronyism, greed and a short-term mindset. But capitalism is more than its faults and the unpleasant outcomes brought on by a selfish class. Revitalizing capitalism begins with reform, which means introducing changes within the existing structure. However, the newest cohort to enter corporate life, Gen Z, has little confidence in the corporate system. They are unwilling to play a game where they don't trust the rules or referees.
Viewpoint: Our economic future depends on young reformers, not ineffective revolutionaries
Many of our capitalist institutions have been damaged by cronyism, greed and a short-term mindset. But capitalism is more than its faults and the unpleasant outcomes brought on by a selfish class. Revitalizing capitalism begins with reform, which means introducing changes within the existing structure. However, the newest cohort to enter corporate life, Gen Z, has little confidence in the corporate system. They are unwilling to play a game where they don't trust the rules or referees.
Our economic future depends on young reformers, not ineffective revolutionaries
© 2023 Tolerance.ca ® Inc. All reproduction rights reserved. All information reproduced on the Web pages of www.tolerance.ca (including articles, images, photographs, and logos) is protected by intellectual property rights owned by Tolerance.ca ® Inc. or, in certain cases, by its author. Any reproduction of the information for use other than personal use is prohibited.
Three Ways Companies Are Getting Ethics Wrong
Topics subscribe-icon Subscribe Permissions and PDF Share Making business decisions that are both ethically and strategically sound has always been incredibly tricky. Leaders are called upon to act in a manner that is consistent with their personal values, builds solidarity and trust among diverse stakeholders, enhances their company’s reputation, and prevents scandals, while also being mindful of the bottom line. This leadership challenge is getting ever more complex.
Three Ways Companies Are Getting Ethics Wrong
Topics subscribe-icon Subscribe Permissions and PDF Share Making business decisions that are both ethically and strategically sound has always been incredibly tricky. Leaders are called upon to act in a manner that is consistent with their personal values, builds solidarity and trust among diverse stakeholders, enhances their company’s reputation, and prevents scandals, while also being mindful of the bottom line. This leadership challenge is getting ever more complex.
How to Feel the Wonder
How to Feel the Wonder Some experiences in life feel so special and magical that, for at least a moment, we feel transported to a place beyond the world of the common and ordinary. How to create wonder.
Patagonia’s grand gesture sends the wrong message about ethical capitalism
Patagonia’s recent blockbuster announcement that the company was “turning capitalism on its head by making the Earth our only shareholder” is generating a lot of attention. It is the start of another chapter in a long and storied history of a company that, more often than not, has been getting ethics right. But is “turning capitalism on its head” the right move in these socially and economically precarious times?
Don’t Be Too Smart for Awe
Key points The pursuit of awe tends to be a blind spot in most academic research, even in psychology. Awe has been identified as being the fastest and most powerful method for personal change and growth. Awe is a worthy target function for businesses hoping to turn the page on an era of capitalism that has perhaps caused more harm than good.
Perry Farrell: Three Steps to Fearless Spirituality
Source: By David Weitzner Abraham Joshua Heschel, the Rabbi who marched alongside Martin Luther King in Selma, observed, “Listening to great music is a shattering experience, throwing the soul into an encounter with an aspect of reality to which the mind can never relate.” I first encountered Perry Farrell’s music in 1988, when Jane’s Addiction released “Mountain Song.” I had never heard anything like it before.
What Makes Life Meaningful
The Secrets We Keep We all harbor secrets. Some are big and bad; some are small and trivial. Researchers have parsed which truths to tell and which not to.
Commentary: Push for innovation in artificial intelligence can create dangerous products
TORONTO: This past June, the United States National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced a probe into Tesla’s autopilot software. Data gathered from 16 crashes raised concerns over the possibility that Tesla’s artificial intelligence (AI) may be programmed to quit when a crash is imminent. This way, the car’s driver, not the manufacturer, would be legally liable at the moment of impact.
Push for AI innovation can create dangerous products
Artificial intelligence is a constantly developing field, but dramatic advances in technology bring new risks. This past June, the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced a probe into Tesla’s autopilot software. Data gathered from 16 crashes raised concerns over the possibility that Tesla’s AI may be programmed to quit when a crash is imminent. This way, the car’s driver, not the manufacturer, would be legally liable at the moment of impact.
Push for AI innovation can create dangerous products
This past June, the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced a probe into Tesla’s autopilot software. Data gathered from 16 crashes raised concerns over the possibility that Tesla’s AI may be programmed to quit when a crash is imminent. This way, the car’s driver, not the manufacturer, would be legally liable at the moment of impact. It echoes the revelation that Uber’s self-driving car, which hit and killed a woman, detected her six seconds before impact.
Push for AI innovation can create dangerous products
This past June, the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced a probe into Tesla's autopilot software. Data gathered from 16 crashes raised concerns over the possibility that Tesla's AI may be programmed to quit when a crash is imminent. This way, the car's driver, not the manufacturer, would be legally liable at the moment of impact. It echoes the revelation that Uber's self-driving car, which hit and killed a woman, detected her six seconds before impact.
Push for AI innovation can create dangerous products Original
This past June, the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced a probe into Tesla’s autopilot software. Data gathered from 16 crashes raised concerns over the possibility that Tesla’s AI may be programmed to quit when a crash is imminent. This way, the car’s driver, not the manufacturer, would be legally liable at the moment of impact. It echoes the revelation that Uber’s self-driving car, which hit and killed a woman, detected her six seconds before impact.
Connected Capitalism : David Weitzner
Connected Capitalism, How Jewish Wisdom Can Transform Work, University of Toronto Press, David Weitzner,Motivational,BUSINESS & ECONOMICS, ,, , Canada, en-UShttps://utorontopress.com, [BLURB],[CITY],Ontario,books, ebooks, biblet, Book2look
How to Encourage Vulnerability in the Workplace
As we begin to tentatively shape the post-pandemic business world, there is a growing chorus of voices pushing for a new normal. Powered by the Great Resignation, increasing numbers of workers are demanding a more human-centric work environment, with space to express trust and vulnerability. In particular, one idea gaining steam is a worker-led expectation that it be normalized and safe to bring our whole selves to work instead of requiring a stiff, impersonal work persona.
How to encourage vulnerability in the workplace while keeping workers safe - OHS Canada Magazine
By David Weitzner, York University, Canada As we begin to tentatively shape the post-pandemic business world, there is a growing chorus of voices pushing for a new normal. Powered by the Great Resignation, increasing numbers of workers are demanding a more human-centric work environment, with space to express trust and vulnerability.
How to encourage vulnerability in the workplace while keeping workers safe
Real co-operation demands all involved parties honour the need to be active while creating value in an open and trusting environment. Credit: Shutterstock As we begin to tentatively shape the post-pandemic business world, there is a growing chorus of voices pushing for a new normal. Powered by the Great Resignation, increasing numbers of workers are demanding a more human-centric work environment, with space to express trust and vulnerability.
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