All posts tagged artificial intelligence

Trends – Fact or Fiction?

Let’s start by considering two well-known quotations; “Knowledge is Power” (Sir Francis Bacon), and “Thinking maketh it so” (William Shakespeare).

Many of us in our private and business lives like to keep up to date with the latest trends, be they social, economic or just for fun. We, as curious individuals, like to know the key drivers that are influencing the now, and what may happen in the future.

We typically use this knowledge to make strategic decisions, to feel part of the crowd, or perhaps to simply equip ourselves with riveting dinner table conversation content to impress and stimulate our guests and friends. So yes, our awareness of trends does indeed potentially give us command over many things and people.

But what if this knowledge, derived from our understanding and belief of a trend is based on fiction? To put it bluntly, the author fabricated the trend, and then communicated it widely through various specifically selected channels, such as social media where their unassuming followers accepted it as fact without any reason for concern or doubt? Would their belief make this trend real, particularly if many believed it so?

Just look at how various individuals or organizations (private or political) disseminate information to a target audience for their own personal gains. Many a politician, in the past and today, have done so with great success. Unfortunately, it was only with hindsight that the trend was identified as fictional folly.

Many information seekers now look to artificial intelligent (A.I.) search engines (ChatGPT, Copilot, Grok, etc) for their insights and recommendations to various trends instead of using human intellect and analysis. The A.I. output being readily accepted as fact with minimal interrogation or suspicion.  

So how do we filter the fact from the fiction before we make them so?

The answer being a combination of independent quantitative and qualitative analysis based on the collective experience of many people who collaborate, discuss, interrogate and challenge what they observe, read and understand. Yes, it takes time, but it will hopefully uncover the fiction from the fact.

However, some people happily accept the fiction and will gleefully follow the false trend like a ‘lemming that is about to fall off a cliff’. Unfortunately, it is these gullible individuals that are commonly the target of the unscrupulous.

There are many trends emerging and currently in operation today. May I suggest that we relook at the two quotations mentioned at the beginning? Maybe they should read as ‘Knowledge could be Power and We decide whether to make it so”?

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by Steven Cramer on December 4, 2025  •  Permalink
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Posted by Steven Cramer on December 4, 2025

https://thinkingfuturethoughts.com/2025/12/04/trends-fact-or-fiction/

Will A.I. yield the right answer?

Everywhere one looks these days, the term A.I. (Artificial Intelligence) is bound to be seen. For those that are in the know, be they academics, corporates, or maybe just like you and I, everyone has an opinion about how it will drive innovation and be the visionary oracle of future thoughts.

But I’m not sure?

Those who are believers, inform us that A.I. is indeed the acknowledged master at identifying those minute signals of information that us mere human mortals just cannot see or understand. It then cleverly invokes its phenomenal artificial brain prowess to analyse, construct and then inform us of a forthcoming trend, be it immediate, or to occur in the fullness of time.  Some of us, who will not be named, willingly accept this information without any timely critique as to its relevance or validity.

Now a question for you to ponder. If we nonchalantly accept this A.I. prediction, will this prophecy actually become a reality? In the words of Shakespeare, “For there is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.” Therefore, if we blindly accept this A.I. prediction, will our thinking make it real?

But wait. What if we provide a counter acronym, and one that is more humanly discerned than the letters A.I., that being “Almost Intelligent” (aka AL.I.)?

Let’s apply this revised concept of A.I. to two well-known and universal scenarios to test this AL.I. variant theory.

Scenario 1: Teenage Children

Many parents leave the dishwasher door open in the hope that their teenage son or daughter will pick up their dirty dinner plate and cutlery and place it diligently in the nominated kitchen equipment with minimal or no fuss. Over a period of days and even months, strategic clues are left either verbally or physically for the intended recipient. If the traditional A.I. analysis process was invoked, these parental signals may have a different interpretation, such as mess is good, dirty plates have a fashionable place on the kitchen bench, or their bedroom floors, or that parents enjoy leaving cryptic hints as part of some intriguing treasure hunt gamification.
But if the application of AL.I. is invoked, the applied combination of all these parental signals, complete with the requisite human intervention would lead to a different outcome, that being, “Put them in the dishwasher, now!”
The AL.I. analysis results are in no doubt, nor misunderstanding by any of the participants.

Using a similar theme, let’s consider Scenario 2: A Messy Desk

Yes, I acknowledge that some of us do value the benefits derived from having a messy desk, particularly as it is reported by those who reportedly know better to foster and encourage an innovative mindset. However, using the traditional version of A.I., how would it interpret these desk presented signals, and then construct a logical conclusion? Those that support the philosophy that “mess is best” know that there is no systematic methodology being used to obtain the desired visual output, rather it is perhaps based on the individual’s mood, emotion, and a somewhat random and possibly perceived lazy personal disposition that may prevail at that point, and other times, in the working day.
A.I. hasn’t got a hope in analyzing this human trait, but AL.I, when combined with our visual receptivity and knowledge of the individual involved would immediately understand what is being demonstrated by the occupier of the desk in question.

So, the conclusion is that a word of caution is most definitely required when discussing the virtues of A.I.

Hence, for those of us seeking a better, and more possibly reliable analysis technique, may I suggest that the term AL.I. be used, where the application of a little bit of human thought could greatly improve the outcome where, “thinking may not make it so, but maybe”.

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by Steven Cramer on June 1, 2023  •  Permalink
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Posted by Steven Cramer on June 1, 2023

https://thinkingfuturethoughts.com/2023/06/01/will-a-i-yield-the-right-answer/

Personnel Staffing Tailor

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In the days of yesteryear, hiring a new employee was fraught with numerous uncertainties and typically required the service of a professional recruiter. The process was timing consuming, costly, and usually involved ploughing through an endless list of CVs, countless interviews, tedious salary negotiations, a job offer, a period of probation, and then finally, if you were lucky, you had a useful new member of staff. If not, you were then back to the start, absent your time, dollars and the few remaining hairs from your quickly balding head.

Enter the role of your Personnel Staffing Tailor (PST). Yes, as the name suggests, this is a new addition to the recruiting business, and one that guarantees 100% corporate satisfaction, complete with a lifetime warranty on your new hire. Your risk, zero.

Now that I have your interest, I’m sure that you will want to quickly utilise the service of your nearest PST. How? Simple. Just ask Siri.

By adhering to Siri’s detailed instructions, you should now be about to enter the business abode of your PST. Don’t be shy, just open the door and go in, even-though it looks like a high-end tailor’s shop. Once inside, you will be greeted by a person that has a welcoming appearance, and one that makes you feel completely relaxed and comfortable. Which, they should do on all occasions for every prospective buyer, as they have been matched to your individual personality requirements to ensure you complete corporate shopping ease. Yes, they are a fashionably dressed humanoid, fully equipped with a remarkedly superior artificial intelligence.

Once seated in a perfectly fitting leather viewing chair, together with any nourishment that you desire at that point in time, your charming PST will ask you to list the full personality traits, qualifications, experience, gender and physical appearance that you require with your new hire.

Equipped with the completed list, your PST will now mix and match your potential new employee via a meticulous arrangement of humanoid features and downloaded artificial intelligence Apps (just like the Apple App Store) to fulfil all your business requirements. Once done, your new employee will quietly sit down next to you awaiting your approval.

So, what are the additional benefits associated with using the services of a PST?

  • Should the employee’s role change in the future, just refresh their accumulated Apps, or download additional ones as required for a modest fee. Your PST will have a stock of all the latest fashionable ones!
  • Your new employee will never need sick leave, annual leave, lunch or coffee breaks.
  • Their hours of work are 24 hours, they don’t abide by the restrictive 9-5 regime.
  • They speak, read and write all languages, even the rarest of dialects.
  • They have a work ethic that perfectly matches your corporate culture.
  • Their clothing attire is never dull and always an inspiration to others in the corporate office.

But, one word of caution, just in case you didn’t read the fine print on the PST contract. You boss has the right to match you with the equivalent AI humanoid, so don’t be surprised if your tenure is limited. But, as they say, that’s progress!

 

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by Steven Cramer on November 2, 2019  •  Permalink
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Posted by Steven Cramer on November 2, 2019

https://thinkingfuturethoughts.com/2019/11/02/personnel-staffing-tailor/

The Virtual Innovation Librarian

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Why is it that some people just seem to have an endless plethora of brilliant ideas, whilst others struggle to generate just one? What’s the secret to their phenomenal creative success?

According to an obscure research paper soon to be published at some fictitious Boston University, the answer to these important questions is their illusive access to the highly prestigious, and most definitely secret, Virtual Innovation Librarian (VIT).

Respected sources advise that the VIT is an artificially intelligent imaginary persona that surreptitiously captures your unconscious thoughts when you are in mental state of slumber, or equivalent corporate boredom. The key requirement being, complete and total mindlessness. For those of you working in the corporate office, just think of all that untapped potential that lethargically resides in your vast employee database!

As the name suggests, the VIT is the keeper of an almost infinite number of thoughts that are meticulously categorised and indexed via the Dewey Decimal Idea Classification System (DDICS), following which, they are then permanently registered within a 4D electronic virtual depository. The DDICS classifications cover all good, and some of the not so good, ideation sparks of human life, business and various social activities from every person that has ever lived, or is currently alive, from the very first evolutionary stage when women and men decided it was time to think.

No, you don’t need a virtual library card to make a thoughtful withdrawal, the process is indeed much simpler and works via the following ingenious method:

  1. Deeply think of the problem that you want to solve.
  2. Open your mind and allow the VIT to have unrestricted access to all your inner thoughts and desires (some people call this mindfulness, meditation or just being lazy).
  3. The VIT then forages around with gusto in your cluttered mind trying to cross-match your nominated problem with all the other thoughts accumulated in the 4D electronic virtual depository.
  4. If a match is made with your problem, and no other person is wanting to also access that particular thought, you can borrow that idea and claim it as your own.
  5. However, there is a catch. These borrowed thoughts only reside in your mind for a limited time period, so if you don’t check them out and use the idea, you quickly lose the innovative solution (just like the content of a dream when you wake up, and rapidly forget the details).

Is there a charge for using this VIT ideation service?

No, it is complimentary to those individuals that recognise that innovation is an activity that needs to be continually worked, and shared freely amongst your work colleagues, thereby ensuring that there is a constant source of fresh ideas being generated for the future needs of mankind. As that saying goes, “give ideas, that you may receive ideas”.

For those businesses that don’t value innovation, well, the cost of the VIT will be well beyond your financial reserves, so may I suggest that you don’t bother thinking longer term, and just focus on enjoying today as your future is guaranteed to be rather uncertain.

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by Steven Cramer on December 5, 2018  •  Permalink
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Posted by Steven Cramer on December 5, 2018

https://thinkingfuturethoughts.com/2018/12/05/the-virtual-innovation-librarian/