Qatar is a small peninsular nation on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula. Qatar is endowed with abundant hydrocarbon resources and is the world's largest producer of liquified natural gas (LNG), which accounts for over 80% of its export earnings. Like many of its wealthy neighbors, Qatar faces a unique dilemma with the onset of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies. Despite having one of the world's highest per-capita income and a highly educated local population, the majority of Qataris are under-employed and working in government white collar jobs where they are unable to fully realize the potential of their level of education. These are precisely the occupations that are likely to be made redundant by AI.1 The bulk of the workforce in Qatar consists of expatriates drawn primarily from South Asia and the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.

As the advancement of technology continues to rise, so do concerns about automation soon taking our jobs. Recent data from McKinsey & Company projects that up to 800 million global workers could be replaced by robots by 2030. For the most part, the report found that blue collar jobs, such as machine operating and fast food preparing, are especially susceptible to disruption. But a new study published by the Brookings Institution says that might not be the case. The report takes a closer look at jobs that are the most exposed to artificial intelligence (AI), a subset of automation where machines learn to use judgment and logic to complete tasks -- and to what degree.

Here's a somewhat abridged list of some of the things that I expect to come true, at least in part, in 2019. While it's an evolution of an internal newsletter I share with old colleagues and friends, I thought I'd share these with the world at large this year to invite discussion, meanderings, or just give you all something to think about as we enter this year of uncertainties and excitement. The IPO market will have a killer year with multiples of SaaS companies trading above 8x while the M&A market will see a significant downturn, especially among public companies and at the $5B level given the recent market swings and their effect on risk-adverse CEOs and boards that have to worry about quarterly earnings. Blockchain technology will have a decidedly mixed year. After a mix of hype, fraud and regulatory challenges, there are still thousands of startups attempting to solve a myriad of very real problems, and the likelihood of one succeeding is high.

Welcome to the Better Communication Results vidcast, edition 112. In today's edition, we find: SAP Analytics Cloud has published a useful intro to AI. Author Ewan Maalerud spells out how artificial intelligence is of value to much of the organisation. Ewan touches on the definition of artificial intelligence, and then of machine learning, and goes into top-level detail about how AI and ML can solve some of the organisation's headaches. Drawing on examples, he talks about cybersecurity, energy costs, healthcare, consumer goods and services, finance, government, and procurement. The call to action is, of course, to sign up for a free trial of SAP's cloud offerings, but nonetheless it's a great overview article and definitely worth sharing with your colleagues who might be wondering what this artificial intelligence stuff is all about.

The quality and shape of human decision-making is taking a profound leap forward thanks to new partners: artificial intelligence and machine learning. Many intelligent people view AI with alarmism, but not Pedro Domingos, the University of Washington professor working at the cutting edge of machine learning. He wrote The Master Algorithm, which I swallowed whole and have been digesting every since. I was fortunate enough to have a long and fascinating conversation with him over dinner one night which I hoped would never end -- but that ended up leading to this interview, in which we explore new sources of knowledge, why white collar jobs are easier to replace than blue collar jobs, centaur chess players, and so much more. The Excerpts below are from my interview with him for the knowledge project, a podcast exploring ideas, methods, and mental models, that help expand your mind, live deliberately, and master the best of what other people have already figured out.

Artificial intelligence is all over the news, with tech titans arguing over whether it will be a force for good or bad. An equally important question is whether AI will stratify society even more, and create a world of haves and have nots. AI is already impacting multiple industries and will take over many blue collar and white collar jobs in the years to come. The speed and severity with which this happens are what creates the biggest challenges for the US and countries around the world. Add to this the geopolitical implications, recently outlined in an important op ed by Kai Fu Lee, and even weak AI can be seen as a scary thing.

Artificial intelligence is all over the news, with tech titans arguing over whether it will be a force for good or bad. An equally important question is whether AI will stratify society even more, and create a world of haves and have nots. AI is already impacting multiple industries and will take over many blue collar and white collar jobs in the years to come. The speed and severity with which this happens are what creates the biggest challenges for the US and countries around the world. Add to this the geopolitical implications, recently outlined in an important op ed by Kai Fu Lee, and even weak AI can be seen as a scary thing.

At a community college in upstate New York, 12 cafeteria workers recently learned that they will lose their jobs -- and be replaced by self-serve machines. It's an issue that has played out in communities across the country, as robots get better and better at doing jobs -- from taking fast food orders to mining coal -- that once belonged to humans. The answer to that question is complicated, according to a report by management consultant McKinsey, but most workers don't need to worry. Experts found that less than 5% of jobs can be completely replaced by technology, though nearly every job involves tasks that robots could learn to do. Enter your occupation below to see how much of your work may someday be done by machines.

Various estimates suggest the American employment mill could shrink by 30% by the year 2025. The United Nations' assessment is even grimmer. They project two-thirds of the human workforce will be replaced in the next decade. Usually, the major sectors included in these loss reports are manufacturing, retail, and blue collar jobs. However, a new analysis suggests white collar jobs are not immune, and now the world's largest hedge fund is replacing its managers with artificial intelligence. The firm Bridgewater Associates, which manages $160 billion worth of assets, tasked a team of its engineers with creating AI software that can automate decision-making and eliminate emotion from financial analysis.

Back in 1994, Tony was learning to play chess under the tutelage of long-time Costa Rican National Champion Bernal Gonzalez. While the chess training didn't stick, he very clearly remembers a conversation where the teacher explained that the world's best chess playing computer wasn't quite strong enough to be among the top 100 players in the world. Technology can advance exponentially, and just 3 years later in 1997, World Champion Garry Kasparov was defeated by IBM's chess playing supercomputer Deep Blue. But chess is a game of logic where all potential moves are sharply defined and a powerful enough computer can simulate many moves ahead. Things got much more interesting in 2011, when IBM's Jeopardy playing computer Watson defeated Ken Jennings who held the record of winning 74 Jeopardy matches in a row.