This is a weekly newsletter exploring the collision of technology and humanity. What's exciting about AI right now is that the platform layer is solidifying, meaning that it's time for the application layer to emerge. Over the past few months, I've written several Digital Native pieces about what's happening in AI. Given that this is the topic in tech as we head into 2023, I wanted to combine those pieces into one cohesive deep-dive on AI, and then expand upon them. The result is that this is a longer piece than usual, but my hope is that it offers a "state of the union" snapshot for where we are and a hint at where we might be going. When I think about what's happening in artificial intelligence, I tend to think of two movies. One came out 33 years ago, and one came out 10 months ago. Hyperland is a mostly-forgotten 1990 film written by Douglas Adams, an author best known for writing The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. The premise of Hyperland (which you can watch on YouTube here) is that Adams is fed up by passive linear TV--what the film calls "the sort of television that just happens at you, that you just sit in front of like a couch potato." Seeking a more interactive form of media, Adams takes his TV to a dump, where he meets Tom (played by Tom Baker). Tom is a software agent--essentially, a digital butler capable of personalizing your information and entertainment diet to your specific interests. Tom takes our protagonist through a virtual land of hypermedia--linked text, sounds, images, and videos. In other words, Tom takes Adams on a journey through the internet.

Children and young people are growing up in an increasingly digital age, where technology pervades every aspect of their lives. From robotic toys and social media to the classroom and home, artificial intelligence (AI) is a ubiquitous part of daily life. It's vital therefore that ethical guidelines protect them and ensure they get the best from this emerging technology. Generation Z, who have grown up with AI, are uniquely placed to offer an insight into the potential issues of AI targeted at children and help create governance guidelines. With that in mind the World Economic Forum has set up the AI Youth Council, a global diverse group comprising young people interested in AI.

Duran Duran Connects Trees to Their NFTs As Part of Initiative To Start New Micro Forests Around the World Living Trees Traceable on the Blockchain In yet another world-first, legendary British rock band, Duran Duran, has this week announced a unique project that will connect NFTs to newly-planted, native trees in New Zealand as part of an initiative to start new micro forests around the world. Duran Duran will kick-off this ambitious initiative by gifting the digital owners of the existing "INVISIBLE" NFT collection, which was released last year in support of the band's 15th studio album: FUTURE PAST. Each of the 100 people who purchased one of the "INVISIBLE" NFTs will receive a brand-new eco-friendly NFT featuring a themed artwork designed by Huxley, the AI artist with whom the band collaborated on their "INVISIBLE" music video and NFT artworks. Along with the NFT, a living tree will be planted in Jardine Park, Queenstown, New Zealand, in the person's name. Each new tree will be traceable on the blockchain via the corresponding NFT.

AI is more accessible to young people in the workforce who grew up as'digital natives' with Alexa and self-driving cars as part of the landscape, giving them expectations grounded in their experience of what is possible. That idea set the foundation for a panel discussion at AI World Government on Mindset Needs and Skill Set Myths for AI engineering teams, held this week virtually and in-person in Alexandria, Va. "People feel that AI is within their grasp because the technology is available, but the technology is ahead of our cultural maturity," said panel member Dorothy Aronson, CIO and Chief Data Officer for the National Science Foundation. We might have access to big data, but it might not be the right thing to do," to work with it in all cases. Things are accelerating, which is raising expectations. When panel member Vivek Rao, lecturer and researcher at the University of California at Berkeley, was working on his PhD, a paper on natural language processing might be a master's thesis. "Now we assign it as a homework assignment with a two-day turnaround.

In moments of digital anxiety I find myself thinking of my father's desk. Dad was a travelling furniture salesman in the 1980s, a job that served him well in the years before globalisation hobbled the Canadian manufacturing sector. He was out on the road a lot, but when he worked from home he sat in his office, a small windowless study dominated by a large teak desk. And yet every day Dad spent hours there, making notes, smoking Craven "A"s, drinking coffee and yakking affably to small-town retailers about shipments of sectional sofas and dinette sets. This is what I find so amazing.

In January, my colleagues at Dun & Bradstreet issued the results of a recent survey, which found that 40% of polled organizations are adding more jobs as a result of deploying AI. This finding appears to counter fears that AI adoption will reduce the availability of human jobs, with only eight of the 100 survey respondents saying that their organizations are cutting jobs due to AI. The Dun & Bradstreet team polled attendees at the AI World Conference & Expo in Boston last December to glean these findings, which raise a larger question as to how companies are adapting to emerging technologies, such as AI and big data -- especially as we're in the midst of an unprecedented era of digital disruption that is only increasing in intensity. Companies are using new technology to disrupt in new ways. And, as leaders in organizations face the realities of digital disruption, the cost of adopting even a fast-follower strategy on AI is simply untenable.

Big data's potential just keeps growing. Taking full advantage means companies must incorporate analytics into their strategic vision and use it to make better, faster decisions. Is big data all hype? To the contrary: earlier research may have given only a partial view of the ultimate impact. A new report from the McKinsey Global Institute (MGI), The age of analytics: Competing in a data-driven world, suggests that the range of applications and opportunities has grown and will continue to expand.

Disruptive technologies are shaping the way we work, we eat, we do shopping or find information. It changes healthcare under the transformation called digital health. Namely, it alters the quality of a social linkage which was relatively stable for centuries. Why would that be different in the most important area of our lives, the family? The rapid swirls of technology started to change the relationship between grandparents, parents, and children.

Big data's potential just keeps growing. Taking full advantage means companies must incorporate analytics into their strategic vision and use it to make better, faster decisions. Is big data all hype? To the contrary: earlier research may have given only a partial view of the ultimate impact. A new report from the McKinsey Global Institute (MGI), The age of analytics: Competing in a data-driven world, suggests that the range of applications and opportunities has grown and will continue to expand.

This is not your typical "predictions for 2017" story. But it is a serious call to prepare yourself for a transformative year ahead. I believe that marketing is in the middle of five major disruptions that are reshaping our whole industry and profession. I know, that sounds like hyperbole, but it's not. These are big tectonic shifts, and they will grow in magnitude over the next 12 months.