Lyricists must write concretely enough to be evocative, yet vaguely enough to allow each listener his personal interpretation. The nineteen-sixties and seventies saw an especially rich balance struck between resonant ambiguity and massive popularity -- aided, as many involved parties have admitted, by the use of certain psychoactive substances. Half a century later, the visions induced by those same substances offer the closest comparison to the striking fruits of visual artificial-intelligence projects like Google's Deep Dream a few years ago or DALL-E today. Only natural, perhaps, that these advanced applications would sooner or later be fed psychedelic song lyrics. The video at the top of the post presents the Electric Light Orchestra's 1977 hit "Mr. Blue Sky" illustrated by images generated by artificial intelligence straight from its words.

The disruptive shifts of 2020, including covid-19 shutdowns that led to millions of workers working remotely, forced organizations to radically rethink everything from worker well-being, business models and operations to investments in cloud-based collaboration and communication tools. Across every industry, last year's best-laid plans were turned upside down. So it's not surprising that technology and work have become, more than ever, inextricably intertwined. As business moves toward an uncertain future, companies have accelerated their efforts to use automation and other emerging technologies to boost efficiency, support worker well-being, accelerate work outputs, and achieve new outcomes. Yet, technology investments are not enough to brace for future disruptions.

Is it just me or have we been playing a global game of Where's Wal- I mean, Alexa, recently? As we all nostalgically remember the game, the challenge was in finding Waldo. But thanks to Bezos's masterful game keeping, the challenge today is in not finding Alexa. Alexa ads are plastered everywhere I turn. Radio commercials sound plain wrong without an Alexa shout out.

Leading minds in technology and computing will debate whether artificial intelligence poses a threat to our jobs at a free event at Liverpool's International Festival for Business (IFB2016) . A panel which will include a brain specialist, a tech lawyer, a technology expert and a union leader will explore the possibility of humans becoming obsolete in the workplace in reality. 'Man and Woman Vs Machine: Is AI Going to Take Your Job?' is an hour-long event, being held on Thursday, June 16, at 3.30pm at Exhibition Centre Liverpool, and is part of the IFB2016 'Blue Skies' programme featuring a number of high-profile speakers . The advancement of Artificial Intelligence and its use in modern life has prompted debate on whether men and women will be needed to work in business in years to come. Stefan Stern, the director of High Pay Centre, a UK think tank, will chair the discussion which will include Gareth Stokes, a partner at law firm DLA Piper, Dave Lester, associate professor on The Human Brain Project at the University of Manchester, Sarah Black, production manager at Siemens and Phil Jennings from UNIGlobal.