Intentional Living Through Liminal Times

Emergence, Attention, Pyramids and Ambiguity

Feb 21, 2023

Refrigerators, Coca-Cola, A.I., and Emergence

Keeping up with the mesmerizing amount of news and updates on what is happening in the AI space, leads me to the conclusion that Elon Musks Neuralink technology can’t come soon enough. Whatever we feel about the man, or machine brain interfaces, we are already semi-integrated into our tech via our smart-watches, Oura rings, or iPhones. Therefore as part of this newsletter, I will endeavor to post a weekly update on applications and interesting perspectives on the threats vs. the benefits of AI to humanity.

While we as humans default to binary reactions ( as I did above), my guest this week, Don Smith opened my mind to the concept of emergence; essentially, everything and everyone is part of a never-ending state of emergence. This technology is now part of our world; therefore, it is up to us how we react to it (more on that later).

However, this week I want to reflect on something Warren Buffet once said about refrigerators. Although the refrigerator was a groundbreaking technology at the time, he made the point that the new products and markets that emerged leveraging refrigeration were exponentially larger than refrigeration. Think Coca-Cola, for one.

While OpenAI’s valuation has soared and ChatGPT reached 100M active users in two months ( Instagram took two and a half years to reach 100 million. TikTok took nine months), it’s the applications that are emerging that excite me….and others.

Check this one called Adept.ai They say:

“Designed and trained specifically for taking actions on computers in response to your natural language commands. ACT-1 is our first step towards a foundation model that can use every software tool, API and website that exists.”

My sign-up was accepted, and I will experiment. However, here is My First Million host Shann Puri reviewing it, barely containing his excitement.

Suggested Action: Start testing some of these applications (see last week’s post on the AI app market) and think about how, as this tech improves, it will free up you or your kids to develop new skills.

My guest Don Smith had this to say about his son:

There are two things I think are very important for him to learn. And that is psychology and philosophy because psychology will tell him about the operating system within himself and philosophy will help him work out what to do with it .

Intention and Attention

As AI tech spreads further across our communication ecosystem (we already know how machine learning has been leveraged to target us with ads and ‘relevant content’), we need to be more intentional with our attention.

Back in my McCann days, I crossed paths with the fabulous Faris Yacob. Faris and his Partner Rosie run Genius Steals - the nomadic creative consultancy.

Faris recently published the second edition of his book, Paid Attention, where he expertly delivers ‘new and innovative insights into advertising ideas: what they are, why they are evolving, and how to use them in day-to-day strategy to ensure commercial stability within a changing digital landscape.’

As I started this newsletter, I recalled Faris’s Media Pyramid. Aside from the absence of TikTok - it is still very salient to what we face today.

Although subjective, the pyramid combines channel and content for illustrative purposes. The research on which it was based suggests people are drawn to junk food for the mind just as they are to junk food for the body. People report feeling happier after actively engaging in choice (Netflix), consumption (reading), or active socializing (interpersonal communications as opposed to Facebook, IG, or Twitter.

Suggested Action: Consider creating a media pyramid for you and your family, driven by the intention to direct attention away from toxic media.

Hierarchies and Pyramids

Reflecting on recent guest Karl Popham and the urgency to increase the speed of adoption of Electric vehicles, I started to wonder if brands like GM and Ford need to rethink their comms. While most EV comms focus on addressing the barriers to adoption such as range anxiety, charging, and price, perhaps there is another way.

Then while preparing to chat with upcoming guest Jey Van Sharp, I stumbled upon a link to HBR’s Value Pyramid, based on a study that identified thirty universal building blocks of consumer values.

As recent guest Christian Baujard stated - consumers simply buy based on price and perceived value. However, the perceived value of a particular product can be highly subjective and poses a problem to marketers. That is where the HBR value pyramid of thirty different elements, of perceived value, can be leveraged to identify differing customers’ needs.

Having looked at this, it’s a great tool for anyone wanting to communicate their product’s or service’s value.

Suggested Action: If you are thinking about comms, try this as a planning tool to help determine the hierarchy of your communications.

Get Comfortable With Ambiguity

With today’s pace of change, as it is, one thing is certain, no one can risk being certain about anything. Maybe we all need to get cozy with fuzziness, and ambiguity, and be open to change. And this post from Jey really hit that mark.