Auxane Boch Podcast Poster V3

Auxane Boch | Ep 21

by Digital FutureExpertPodcasts
Watch or listen:
Video Games, Social Robotics and the Ethics of AI.

In this episode we talk about how video games foster social integration and education. We discover the difference between ‘Interactional Systems’ and interactive tech, and the integration of AI-powered social robots in healthcare.

We also talk about the ethical concerns surrounding AI, its productivity potential, sentience, and media misrepresentation of academic findings. 

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Auxane Boch

Auxane Boch is:

  • A Doctoral candidate in Interactional Technology Ethics at the Technical University of Munich (TUM). 
  • She is a Researcher in Video Games, Immersive Realities, Social Robotics and AI Ethics from a psychology perspective
  • She is also a Friedrich Schiedel Fellow at the TUM Think Tank where she also co-leads the Immersive Realities Working Group
  • And she is the Women in AI Germany Research Officer.

Auxane’s multidisciplinary expertise spans video games, immersive realities, social robotics, and AI ethics.

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Check out her website & Research Gate profile:

Auxane’s Personal Website

Auxane’s Research Gate Profile

🎙️ In this episode, we explore how technology shapes our minds and society. Here’s what we covered:

  • Gaming for Good: The potential of video games as tools for social education and integration—proving it’s not the tech, but how we use it that matters.
  • Late-Night Gaming: Is it a growing concern for adults, or just another misunderstood habit?
  • Interactional Systems vs Interactive Tech: AI, online games, and robots—how these systems redefine human interaction.
  • Immersive Realities Lab at TUM: Cutting-edge solutions in virtual environments and beyond.
  • AI in Healthcare: Social robots transforming daily care for those in need and shaping the future of healthcare.
  • Ethical Design: How psychological insights guide the creation of responsible social robots and tackle key ethical AI concerns.
  • AI and Society: Can AI boost productivity and bridge skill gaps, or will its growing intelligence pose risks to humanity?
  • Regulating AI Ethics: Will these guidelines curb illicit activities or only control mainstream use?

Recommended Reads and Games

  • Books: The New Breed by Kate Darling and Reality is Broken by Jane McGonigal.
  • Games: What Remains of Edith Finch and Detroit: Become Human for emotionally rich, thought-provoking experiences.

🎧 This episode is a must-listen if you’re curious about social robots, immersive realities, AI ethics, or online gaming.

Auxane Boch's Research
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Supremacy Book Review

Supremacy – Parmy Olson

by Artificial IntelligenceBook ReviewsDigital Future

AI seems to be everywhere at the moment. The media machine and the echo chamber of social media algorithms have bathed my feeds in news, white papers, and academic articles about the latest digital revolution. I have to admit here that before reading Supremacy, my knowledge of AI and the large language models that drove the algorithms and machine learning behind them was a bit of a foreign concept.

Although Supremacy sets out a history of just two AI companies (ChatGPT and DeepMind) and the personalities that shaped and invested in them and subsequently bought them, Parmy Olson does a great job of explaining throughout what drives AI tools—at least the ones that are competing head-on with search engines.

If you want a history of AI and a glance at the potential future, this is a great book to start with. It is surprisingly entertaining and deeply fascinating while still being very ‘quaffable’. Having recently finished the book, I am about to flip back to Page 1 and start again – as I am sure I will get a few more golden nuggets of insights I didn’t pick up the first time.

Book Review Related Articles
Rachel Wood Poster

Rachel Wood | Ep 15

by ExpertFuturistic WorkPodcasts
Watch or listen:
AI and the Future of Work and Society.

In this episode, I chat with Rachel Wood, a speaker, researcher, writer, educator, and therapist.

We talk about Generative AI and Mental Wellbeing in the future workplace.

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Rachel Wood

Rachel is a speaker, researcher, writer, educator, therapist, and PhD candidate, researching the intersection of psychology, AI and the future of work, education and relationships.

(As a caveat: Rachel has a PhD in cyberpsychology, but is not a “cyberpsychologist”)

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In this episode we explore the fascinating intersection of psychology, AI, and the future of work and relationships.

Rachel shares her unique journey from music education to counselling and finally to her current research in cyberpsychology. She discusses her PhD studies, which focus on the psychological impact of artificial intelligence on professionals, the workplace, and educational systems. Her insights on the rapid evolution of AI and its implications offer a fresh perspective on how we can adapt to the challenges and opportunities of emerging technologies.

Key Takeaways:

Psychological Skills for Navigating AI in the Workplace
Rachel introduces the concept of “psychosocial and vocational plasticity,” emphasising skills like cognitive flexibility, curiosity, and grit to help us adapt to rapid AI advancements. She provides practical exercises, such as arguing the opposite side of a disagreement, to enhance these skills.

Addressing AI Ambivalence
Mixed feelings towards AI—both excitement and hesitation—are natural, but they can be barriers to adoption. Rachel highlights the importance of open dialogue in workplaces to address these emotions and facilitate smoother integration of AI tools.

Generative AI and Human Relationships
The conversation delves into the potential of generative AI as artificial companions and its impact on relational dynamics. While AI can help isolated individuals, Rachel warns of the risks of unidirectional relationships eroding essential interpersonal skills like compromise and empathy.

Therapeutic Applications of AI
Rachel explores groundbreaking therapeutic applications, such as AI-generated future selves to reduce anxiety and AI tools for “self-parenting” younger selves. These tools could help individuals process trauma, find hope, and gain agency in healing.

The Future of Work and Vocational Identity
AI will likely redefine vocational identities, providing opportunities to focus on meaningful work and explore purpose beyond repetitive tasks. Rachel sees this as a chance to redesign work-life balance and foster creativity.

Thought-Provoking Moments:

  • AI in Debating and Cognitive Flexibility: Could algorithms that expose us to opposing viewpoints reshape how we engage with diverse ideas?
  • Bidirectional Relationships vs AI Companions: Are we at risk of losing critical relational skills in the age of always-agreeable artificial companions?
  • AI and Future Self Therapy: Can visualising a hopeful future self help us overcome current anxieties and break negative habits?

Rachel’s insights underscore the importance of intentionality in embracing AI. By equipping ourselves with adaptive skills and fostering meaningful human connections, we can shape a future where technology enriches rather than diminishes our lives. 🌐

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Dr Paul Marsden poster

Dr Paul Marsden | Ep 10

by Artificial IntelligenceExpertPodcasts
Watch or listen:
The Human-AI Interaction

In this episode, we explore AI, Positive Psychology, Digital Wellbeing and technology.

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Dr Paul Marsden

Paul is a Chartered psychologist specialising in consumer behaviour, wellbeing and technology. He is a university lecturer at UAL and a consultant consumer psychologist with Brand Genetics.

Paul believes that the biggest digital disruption is the one happening in our heads, as technology transforms our identity, experiences and relationships. He helps businesses understand how this digital disruption influences consumer needs, motivations and behaviour.

He lectures on consumer trends and consumer psychology at the business school of the London College of Fashion, where he also researches the phenomenon of “enclothed cognition” – the psychological impact of our clothes on how we think.

He co-founded Brainjuicer PLC (now System1 Group), a research company that uses online psychological techniques to understand consumers.

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Visit Paul’s website.

Watch ‘_iAmGenZ’

In today’s episode of Confessions of a CyberPsychologist, YouTube Link, I chat with Dr Paul Marsden about the intersection of technology, well-being, and AI-driven futures. From his early fascination with Blade Runner to developing AI “co-workers” for businesses, Paul offers an inspiring take on how technology can be harnessed for positive change.

Growing up with Cyberpunk Influences

Paul’s childhood fascination with Blade Runner ignited his interest in synthetic humans and the blurred boundaries between human and artificial intelligence. This early inspiration spurred him on to do a PhD and eventually co-found Brain Juicer (now System1), a research agency based on word-association techniques.

Positive Psychology and the ARC of Happiness

He underlines the importance of positive psychology, highlighting self-determination theory—specifically the ARC model (Autonomy, Relatedness, and Competence)—as a guiding principle:

  • Autonomy: We thrive when we feel in control of our choices, whether online or offline.
  • Relatedness: Connection to others—be it through social media, communities, or shared experiences—bolsters our well-being.
  • Competence: Feeling capable and “savvy” boosts happiness and encourages repeat engagement in both digital and consumer spaces.

He points out how brands and technology platforms that support these three needs often inspire loyalty, promote well-being, and turn user satisfaction into sustainable profitability.

AI for Well-Being and Business

We talk about the potential of AI assistants—like “Mia” or “Lexi”—that can be given specialised skills and even distinct personalities. In business contexts, these AI “co-workers” not only handle routine tasks (filling forms, summarising documents, analysing data) but also provide empathetic support to employees. By tailoring AI with human-like qualities and memory, users build genuine rapport with their digital counterparts.

He also discusses AI’s capacity to democratise therapy by offering empathetic conversations and personalised mental health support, particularly in a world where counselling resources are stretched. AI’s potential to reduce barriers—such as cost, stigma, and lack of local services—could open mental health support to a far wider population.

Debunking the Doom and Gloom

From I am Gen Z (a documentary highlighting the digital anxieties of Gen Z) to the ongoing debate between Elon Musk’s AI pessimism and Mark Zuckerberg’s optimism, Paul emphasises a balanced view. He sees technology not as inherently harmful but as a tool whose impact depends on how it is used—and crucially, whether it displaces activities that meet our innate ARC needs. He also stresses that regulatory or institutional fears shouldn’t block everyday people from accessing the transformative possibilities of AI.

Looking Ahead

Cyberpsychology is evolving beyond its traditional focus on social media, cyberbullying, and online risks. The rise of AI offers a reset moment: a chance to embrace an applied, more positive strand of cyberpsychology that explores how humans and machines can co-create value, enhance well-being, and tackle real-world challenges.

Key Takeaways:

  1. ARC Model – A simple but powerful framework for designing technology and consumer experiences that promote happiness and loyalty.
  2. Empathy in AI – Human-like AI can boost productivity and provide meaningful emotional support, reshaping how we work and care for each other.
  3. Digital Literacy – Embracing AI across education and business is crucial; we risk falling behind if we ban or overly restrict these tools.
  4. Positive Outlook – Technology reflects our choices and motivations; focusing on the good it can do encourages innovation and shared prosperity.

Recommended Reading

  • Anything by William Gibson (who coined “cyberspace”)
  • Without Miracles by Gary Cziko
  • Darwin’s Dangerous Idea by Daniel Dennett

By shifting our lens towards the potential for well-being, AI, and positive psychology, we can steer cyberpsychology from a “doom and gloom” narrative to one centred on thriving, innovation, and meaningful human connections.

Acronyms:

AI: Artificial Intelligence

LLM: Large Language Model

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Reigning in artificial intelligence

The global attempt to reign in Artificial Intelligence

by Artificial Intelligence

What was originally considered Artificial Intelligence Science Fiction only a decade or so ago has become a reality or at least a potential certainty. It has been suggested that designers in Silicon Valley use SciFi as an inspiration for the creation of new technology.

Although there is a practical perspective to AI, there are also psychological consequences to this growing part of our digital technology. Some of these consequences are already self-evident, others are still to emerge. 

Psychological Aspects of AI 

  • AI has the potential to reduce the value of human-based work including, but not limited to: journalism, administration and creative design. But, it also has the ability to enhance or increase productivity in various fields
  • A lot of ink has been spilt over how AI will steal so many jobs. But, history is littered with both job losses and new job creation that come from technological inventions e.g. the tractor, the printing press, and online banking – this doesn’t seem exponentially different
  • Scare-mongering by the media (and also by high-profile tech giants) can cause unnecessary moral panic that can result in fear-based passivity, rather than a proactive focus on how to train for future employment 
  • But, humans are extraordinarily adaptive and have the ability to learn new skill sets and find new career paths through these innovations
  • Maybe it is time to change the narrative around AI to be more about mitigating the harms and building future-focused AI skillset resilience

November 2023 AI Safety Summit

The psychological implications aside, there is still enough of a concern about the practical elements of AI that an AI Safety Summit took place at UK’s Bletchley Park on 1-2 November 2023 in London to talk through how to potentially manage and regulate AI going forward. 

Elon Musk has often warned about the dangers of AI. He to British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak at the Safety Summit about the dangers, positives and potential restrictions that needed to be placed on those who build AI. 

The summit is a great start in this process of better understanding the human impact of AI. A few highlights gleaned from The Evening Standard articles reporting on Elon Musk’s comments both before and during the Summit held are: 

More intelligent than humans

  • AI and machine learning have the ability to be more intelligent than the smartest humans
  • It is not clear if AI can be controlled, so there needs to be an over-riding ‘off switch’

AI will operate according to its programming

  • AI is biased in that its foundational programming will be in line with the belief systems, biases and worldviews of those who write the programs. If these are implicitly in contrast with the greater good of humanity, the outcomes could become counter-productive.

Existential risk

  • The greatest risk lies in AI becoming accidentally ‘anti-human’ – which is what we should be most concerned about
  • While Elon Musk regularly mention the threat of extinction from AI, others suggest the threat to be more akin to a pandemic or nuclear war, others suggest that the threat is minimal – although it is impossible to predict
  • He also mentioned risks such as deep fake videos, disinformation from fake bot social media accounts and humanoid robots
  • The greatest risks come from ‘frontier AI’, which will probably exceed today’s AI models, or from losing control of these systems – especially around potential misuse 
  • Although Elon Musk does think that AI will mostly be a force for good (such as personalised tuition for children), he also suggests that AI will result in a time when there are no jobs

International regulator body

  • Rishi Sunak wants to make the UK a ‘Global Hub’ for AI safety
  • A neutral 3rd party regulator body should be set up  to ‘observe what leading AI companies are doing and at least sound the alarm if they have concerns’
  • All 28 countries will recommend an expert to join the UN-backed global panel on AI safety

The Bletchley Declaration

  • All 28 countries that attended the summit have signed the ‘Bletchley Declaration which sets out a shared understanding of the risks of AI and pledges to develop AI models that are safe and responsible
  • These governments and major AI companies (Open AI and Google DeepMind) will work together to research and manage AI risks and include external safety testing on new AI models that may hold some risk to society and national security
  • It resolves to ‘work together in an inclusive manner to ensure human-centri, trustworthy and responsible AI that is safe’
  • The document is not legally binding, but rather a voluntary, agreement

Read more: 

You can read more about the reporting from the global summit, written by Martyn Landi, Gwyn Wright and Mary-Ann Russon of The Evening Standard, from the below links.

Elon Musk says AI one of the ‘biggest threats’ to humanity.

AI Safety: What have we learned?

Elon Musk: AI could pose existential risk if it becomes ‘anti-human’.

Elon Musk tells Rishi Sunak: AI ‘the most destructive force in history’

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Metaverse

Can Meta Save Itself?

by The Metaverse

Opinion Piece (Updated 8 Nov 22)

Meta (principally led by MZ) has been making a lot of noise this past year around what they are planning for their Metaverse creation. We touched on a recent interview with Joe Rogan and summarised a few of their plans early in September. However, the question that is currently being bandied about is whether or not MZ has been spending too much time with his tech contemporaries and potentially losing touch with the general public? 

The BBC published an article highlighting the downward spiral of Meta’s shares since February, and its first quarterly revenue decline in July – with no new users being added in the US and Europe. Similarly, The Spectator showcased how failings in both tactical and strategic moves have chipped away at users and investors confidence in the company and their ability to innovate. MZ has shifted his focus away from the daily running of the company and seemingly putting all his energy into building the Meta version of the Metaverse. All this shifting is potentially resulting in a loss of core business focus and ultimately leading to a downsizing of business costs through large-scale staff layoffs, as reported in the Wall Street Journal on 6th Nov 22. The WSJ interviews (see the top of the WSJ article) with a few tech founders seems to indicate that they view the metaverse as a gaming platform that is unlikely to enter into the realm of the general public or business world. They believe the money MZ is investing in his version of the metaverse build is akin to the expenses one would pour into a ‘pet project’ and not a great business decision.

Every company has a lifecycle, and unless they are able to innovate regularly, and in the right areas, a company will either gradually (or very swiftly) find themselves on a rather sticky wicket. Although there are many potential benefits to the metaverse for businesses – it often takes a more ubiquitous use of new technology on a personal level, before it starts to infiltrate the professional realm. 

Is Meta investing too much focus and resources in metaverse technology? There is always risk in developing new technology, and much hype has already been generated by this new potential as having a high future return on investments. Is the metaverse something that will enhance consumers lives to the degree that they will buy into it? Or, are consumers starting to see some of the negative mental health consequences of too little time spent face-to-face with others and too much time with virtual others – and potentially, therefore pulling back on past and current levels of tech use? 

You can read a PDF of the articles by clicking on these links to the BBC article PDF or Spectator article PDF.

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JR & MZ

MZ and Meta’s vision for their Metaverse creation

by The Metaverse

There is a lot of speculation about what ‘the Metaverse’ will be. Although we have some idea of what it may look like, there are some variations on the theme based on the vision of the developing tech giant. 

For Meta, this metaverse future ideal is controlled via MZ, who recently revealed his vision for the future of the human-digital-connection. 

Joe Rogan recently interviewed Mark Zuckerberg on his vision for the Metaverse. You can watch this interview at the Daily Motion here. 

The Times ran a great summary of this interview of MZ’s vision in a recent write-up of the interview*. This includes: 

  • launching a new VR headset – increasing non-verbal avatar expressions and feelings of ‘presence’ with others in VR
  • a future that includes AR glasses where people interact with the physical world via digital overlays
  • normalising holograms that can be beamed into a geographically distant office 
  • more realistic avatars
  • directly competing with passive TV ‘screen time’ allowing people to actively virtually socialise with others

Although there are a lot of upsides to hologram (Star Wars-like) usage. There are some potential downsides that need to be considered. These could be (but are not limited to):

  • personal and company security
  • potential issues around hologram based cyberbullying or cyberstalking
  • the ability to harvest real-life data

The potential of the metaverse is both interesting and intimidating. The race is on for big tech companies to be the first to develop this future. 

* if you can’t access the original interview, you can read a PDF of the article here. 

You can also view an explanation of MZ’s view of the Metaverse as well as an interview with him and Tim Ferriss.

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Future Worker Psychology

Current and future worker psychology is affected by how we use technology to do our work

by Futuristic Work

Anecdotally, it would seem that we have all, in one way or another, been impacted by the Lockdowns over the 2020/21 period. Professionally our psychology has shifted in how we are able to fulfil our work role. 

Computer Self-Efficacy

One of the many positive unintended consequences of Lockdowns, and remote work, is that we’ve become a lot more confident in our ability to use the available technology to get our work done (known as computer-self efficacy).

Not having IT or work colleagues nearby to ‘quickly help us’ with things we’re not sure of, helped us to figure out the tech for ourselves. Doing so empowered us with greater confidence to use the apps and tech we need to get our work done. As a result, we have become more productive in what we do and how we do it.  

Flexible Working

Although the technology was already available for much of the team to effectively and efficiently work in a remote/hybrid or flexible way, this way of working was often posited as ‘impossible’.

In 2014 the UK issued the Flexible Work Regulations, which allowed any worker (not just those with caring responsibilities) to apply for flexible working arrangements. This change in regulations garnered limited press coverage and, therefore, little awareness among workers. Even then, employers often based objections to flexible work on the overriding narrative that ‘working from home was impossible’, ‘it would lower productivity levels’ and ‘it wouldn’t be good for team cohesion, company culture and overall productivity delivery’ (etc).

Then the impossible became possible, and entire workforces were shifted to a remote working environment, within a short space of time. 

If workers had all gone back to the office after those first 3 weeks to ‘flatten the curve’, very little would have psychologically changed in how work got done. The ‘old normal’ would have remained.

What has changed

Extended lockdowns meant we had to:

  • Spend time and mental energy finding better ways to work from home
  • Turn part of our home into a better working solution
  • Develop physical and psychological strategies to juggle different work and home realms, personas and commitments

Effectively more hybrid

So, we’ve inadvertently done a self-taught crash course in how to work remotely. This means we have more choice in how we now ‘do hybrid’ more effectively. We’ve tasted the flexibility that working from home/anywhere gives us, but relish the community that in-office work gives us. Research by Stanford University showcases that 50% of workers want to keep it that way and see hybrid working as a big part of managing their work-life balance more effectively. 

The downside of technology in remote work

Because a number of workers have set up a home-based work environment, there is more opportunity for workers to start their workday earlier and end their workday later. Although this may seem to increase overall productivity, it has limited benefits. Working longer hours increases energy output and reduces personal time and the time needed to psychologically transition between two life realms. 

Workers have become more used to the concept of working while at home. The habit of ‘quickly checking’ emails/messages is a lot easier to indulge as we’ve become mentally more familiarly with working away from the office. The more we check and reply to work emails the more we set expectations of others that we are available after working hours. We reduce the ability to cognitively and emotionally recover from the energy required to perform our work role. We reduce the available time to spend on our own pursuits and time with our friends and family. 

If a dedicated workspace isn’t available to visually separate working space from private-time space, workers are more likely to be constantly reminded of work after working hours. This can be especially true if a laptop or work mobile is left on and notifications can be seen/heard outside of office hours. 

Going forward – technology for work

As technology continues to shift how we use and engage in our workplace, we need to become more mindful of how our use of technology is shifting our psychology about work. If we are more mindful of the impact of work-based technology in our everyday lives, we can take more proactive steps in either enhancing the benefits or curbing the negative personal and professional impact on our psychology, productivity and mental wellbeing. 

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2040 Work

How will technology change the jobs of the future?

by Futuristic Work

A recent Telegraph article on a book written by Nikolas Badminton called ‘Facing our Futures’ due to be published later in 2022 by Bloomberg, has highlighted a number of potential jobs that may be key for children to consider over the next few decades.

I admire anyone who takes a punt at predicting the future. We are individually racked by biases, worldviews and limited insights of world dynamics. But, I also wonder if we, as humans, are so enamoured by progress and technology that we place all our bets on universal acceptance of all upcoming technology and the complete integration of it into our daily lives. Although the use of new technology changes us as individuals and as a society, there are some fundamental elements of who we are, as humans, that will not change.

We need community. We need physical engagement with others. Some need more than others, but we need physical presence, we need physical touch, we need physical support. Machines can be a substitute, but they are just that, a temporary substitute.

We solve complex, nuanced, problems every day. Knowing how to reach and teach each individual child in a classroom is something AI cannot do. Fixing a burst water pipe behind the toilet under the stairs isn’t something a machine can easily sort. Emotionally supporting and counselling a returning veteran is not the realm of a therapy bot. There may be some very well-paid technology-based roles in the future, but that isn’t much different from similar well-paid technology-based roles now. There will be very few who either have the aptitude, desire or ability to fill those roles.

As for the metaverse and mixed reality. Facebook (or Meta, as MZ prefers to call it), Microsoft and Google are investing epic amounts of cash into this mixed reality environment. Their investment doesn’t mean that the majority of the population will actually engage with it to become ‘the way we do life’. It just means they currently speculate that it will make them a lot of money in the future. There are plenty of very clever people betting on this future semi-reality. But I suspect that there is a general growing undercurrent of dissatisfaction with the emptiness of technology. There seem to be more and more people who are stepping back from their constant interactions with tech and stepping into better connections with physical others. I suspect that the vast majority will use the metaverse for what they can personally get from it – for work and home – and then switch themselves off from it, go outside and meet with real people.

I think that, in general, we need to take a little bit more of a human-centred approach to how we view the workplace of 18 years hence. Will it change very much from the workplace of now for the general population? I would suggest not. We may be using different tools and apps to achieve the same or better levels of productivity, but the majority of our roles will just evolve to accommodate these better apps and these other ways of doing things, rather than us radically shifting to a whole new dimension of job availability and skillsets. As a case in point: when the motor vehicle became popular and the carriage less so, we may have ‘lost’ some key jobs and companies within the carriage-related industries, but the general gamut of jobs remained the same. We still had butchers, bakers, and candlestick makers; the mechanisation of transport just changed what those roles looked like. There is unlikely to be any greater revolution in the general workforce even with new technology being invented and engaged with.

I guess we can only wait and see what happens. However, I have a much more optimistic view of our place in the future world with technology. I cannot buy into the more pessimistic view of technology taking over all our jobs. But, we will have to just wait and see.

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AI Recruitment

Is the Future of Recruitment in AI and Algorithms?

by Futuristic Work

On the 23rd March it will have been 2 years since Boris Johnson ushered UK knowledge workers into a new era of doing businesses when he asked the UK public to stay home to ‘flatten the curve’. Much has changed since then, including how we recruit and onboard new staff. In July 2020 Dr Linda Kaye (a senior lecturer in CyberPsychology) wrote an interesting article about how future AI may help HR with new staff recruitment, using psychometric competency profiling, based on our online activities and purchasing behaviour.

This is a futuristic piece, with a focus on the recruitment process. Dr Kaye makes some really good points around the direction and potential positives of future recruitment using online behaviour as a psychometric tool to evaluate a candidate’s potential for the role. However, there are a number of concerns I have around using AI & Algorithms to select potential candidates:

* AI doesn’t pick up the subtle nuances that make us human.

* Big Tech have agendas and profit models that go outside of our individual and business interests

* A number of people either don’t have social media accounts or choose to not engage on social media and tend to do all their shopping locally

* Those pulling together job profiles competencies have their own set of biases around what type of person they would like in the role – and potentially reducing diversity and ability

Personally, I’m not sure I want an AI bot or the algorithms of Big Tech to skew my chances of landing my dream job. But, saying that, we do need to consider how dramatically work has shifted over the past 24 months, and how we are going to need to continually (physically and psychologically) adapt to a more tech-driven workplace and recruitment process.

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Avatars and MetaHumans

Should we be calling Avatars MetaHumans?

by The Metaverse

There is something quite amazing and awe-inspiring about how talented designers and creators of new digital technology are. The box office success of the Avatar movie is a testament to this.

In line with this, the creation and use of 3D Avatars as an online representation of a human in a virtual environment is not a new phenomenon for gamers. There are some really interesting studies that showcase how these avatar representations can be very helpful in improving overall self-esteem. The Ideal Elf and The Proteus Effect are well-cited examples of the research done in this area. 

With the current rise in awareness of the Metaverse as the technology heralded as replacing the current internet, there seems to be a bit of a love-affair with how we represent ourselves online in the future. In line with this, there is new terminology in the naming of these online human representations of ourselves as ‘Meta Humans’. How these are created can be seen in the video below.

As much as I admire and celebrate this incredible creative talent, from a psychological point of view, I would suggest that the terminology used may have unintended consequences on us as humans that we have not yet considered. I would suggest that these could be: 

  • The Facebook has recently renamed itself ‘Meta’. Although I suspect that this is to gain a head-start associative mental link to the future of the interactive online world, it is a worry that the ‘MetaHuman’ naming convention is so closely linked to the Facebook holding company renaming.
  • Avatars are human representations, they are not in-and-of-themselves humans with all the biological, social and communal nuances that make us uniquely human. How and to what extent will this blurring of the cognitive boundaries between how we view and interact with a physical human and an avatar affect our future self-image and that of others in the metaverse?
  • We are already aware of The Online Disinhibition Effect that comes from us acting very differently in an online world to how we act in an offline world, how will engaging in a Metaverse with an avatar representation either increase or decrease our disinhibition to treat others in socially unacceptable ways? 

There are a number of other concerns I have with the MetaHuman naming convention, but they are currently inklings of worry that I have not fully identified or am able to clearly articulate. But what I do feel strongly about is how quickly we are rushing headlong into an new phase of online interactions without fully considering all the unintended consequences (along with all the potential benefits, of course) that may come from doing so. 

We really do need more researchers and academics in this field of CyberPsychology. With the rapid compounding advances in digital technology, there is too much to research and not enough people diving into this critical area of human psychology and behaviour. 

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Social Connections and VR of the Future

Ready Player One or The Matrix? How prevalent will Virtual Reality be in the future?

by Immersive Reality

In a recent Guardian article on David Charmers new book the stance taken by David of VR in the future becoming the norm, and reality becoming the exception is a psychologically irresponsible (and a very 1st-world) one.

I am a great advocate for VR / AR. We’ve only just started scratching the surface of the overall potential of this technology. I do agree with the point that scenarios, objects and situations in VR can feel as psychologically real as ‘real-life’. It’s a phenomenon referred to as ‘Presence’. Your real-world visual and auditory sensory input is ‘overridden’ by what you are seeing and hearing in VR. While in VR, you become very unaware of what is going on in your physical environment. This is why gaming has grown exponentially in the past 2 years. It has been a great way for many to cope with stress and fear. It can be a useful temporary emotional safe haven.

However, when you remove the headset, your brain transforms you instantaneously back into life (with all its joys and worries). Suggesting that living in VR is bound to become a way of living does not consider the physical and biological connectivity that we humans need with others. We are creatures of community and social structure. We live and exist in a physical world. We always have, we always will. We psychologically need physical connectedness with others, with nature, with our food, with our interests. As much as I am a Virtual Reality advocate, I am a much greater advocate for Real-World Reality.

As a case in point – in a 2017 TED talk, Susan Pinker showcases how Social Integration via ‘close personal relationships and face-to-face interactions’ has a greater impact on a person’s longevity than refraining from smoking or drinking. Having people around you that you can trust, lean and rely on (when you most need it) is part of what makes for a longer life. This is rarely the reality of virtual globally-based communities.

Another case in point – Jean Twenge, in her book iGen, demonstrates how smartphones and social media are already changing how young people interact with peers and others. The reduced social interaction of our teens is not conducive to forming and building future families.

We need to be encouraging the building and maintaining of healthy physical communities, that set a strong foundation for optimising any psychological and emotional benefits we get from building and maintaining our virtual connections. Technology should be a tool we use to optimise and improve our real-world lives, not make us slaves to them.

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Rethinking Digital Leadership Skills

Rethinking Digital Leadership Skills

by Futuristic Leadership

Many experts are espousing the notion that ‘Hybrid Work’ is the future for knowledge work roles.

The question is whether we have fully come to understand how this may play out in terms of:

  • leadership behaviour,
  • who, how often and when hybrid working is a good idea for a company and the individuals employees and
  • how we can maximise team productivity while maintaining strong emotional and mental wellbeing amongst the individuals within that same team – wherever they get the job done.

Leading remote and teams requires a different set of management skills to those required for managing in-office teams. 

Historically, companies promoted successful employees (i.e. those that made the biggest impact on the company bottom line) into management positions as a reward for a ‘job well done’. This premise may also assume that successful employees will be best able to lead successful teams. Even pre-pandemic this notion often proved unsuccessful. 

A recent McKinsey Report on ‘The Great Resignation’ found that employees prioritise: 

  • feeling valued by their organisation or manager
  • feel a sense of belonging at work
  • having a good work-life balance

Employees are also looking for better and stronger career paths where they are recognised and developed within their roles. These new expectations around satisfying work roles requires a very different management mindset.

With this in mind, keeping good employees is going to require:

  • team-based negotiation around working hours and how team members intend to meet individual and team KPI’s
  • open communication amongst team members with managers being a co-ordinator of (rather than the bottle-neck for) team knowledge, ensuring all team members are up to speed on projects they are involved in
  • regular coordination of work and project updates
  • regular check-ups on remote or hybrid team members
  • higher than average empathetic skills, emotional intelligence and social intelligence
  • ability to build a sense of community amongst project and team members – wherever and whenever individual members get work done. 

In addition to all of this, good leaders will understand:

  • the implications of remote and hybrid working on mental wellness and work-life balance
  • how various digital technologies impact on productivity levels, tiredness and cause anxiety or stress amongst team members
  • how to spot the signs of overwork, stress, tiredness, or mental exhaustion amongst their team and where to signpost them to help team members to strike a better balance. 

In summary, the way forward in the digital work marketplace is one that requires a different type of manager than the previous industrial revolution required. With a constant engagement with digital technology in order to get work done, knowledge workers do not need a ‘productivity-focussed manager’, but rather a human-centred manager that can help each team member achieve a more productive, focussed working life. 

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Pokemon Go MetaVerse

Pokemon Go’s Creator Isn’t a Fan of the Immersive Metaverse

by The Metaverse

Pokemon Go’s creator, Niantic CEO John Hanke, has stated grave concerns around the proposed immersive nature of MZ’s metaverse plans. In an interview with Wired, he set out his plans for Niantic’s version of the metaverse. 

He believes that an augmented reality version has much greater mental and physical health benefits than the immersive virtual reality version. In a similar way that Pokemon Go encouraged children and families to get out into nature, his plans are to enhance reality by layering on virtual images in ‘the merger of pixels and atoms’ and ‘where bits meet atoms’. 

He used the example of historical events being ‘played out’ over the current geographical space, or virtual arrows highlighting the direction of travel. 

His overall aim is to enhance reality, get people off the couch and out into nature/the real world, and improve overall mental health, rather than encouraging them to stay indoors and immerse themselves in a virtual world. 

There is no doubt that his motives are financial, but they also seem to be humanistic and empathetic. 

If you cannot read the original article, you can view a PDF of that article here. 

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Microsoft 3D Avatar

Is it better to talk to a blank screen, a photo or a 3D avatar of the person when in a virtual meeting?

by Futuristic Work

A research question that may need answering soon. At this point, from a presenters/meeting controller perspective, I can only guess that it is better to have a 3D avatar engaging with you with some body-language feedback, than an array of black video screens with no visual or auditory feedback.

Microsoft have just announced their introduction of 3D avatars as part of their strategy to dominate virtual meetings within the Metaverse.

From a participant perspective, we do know that the creation of a better looking avatar in VR can improve a person’s overall self-esteem. Named ‘The Proteus Effect’ and ‘The Ideal Elf’, having an avatar that is better looking than your real self, can give you more confidence in the VR world. This confidence gained in VR then translates back into the real world – giving the person behind the avatar more confidence in offline situations.

What does this mean for virtual business interactions?

– It may help to increase levels of self-confidence for less confident colleagues.

– It may reduce the number of black screens – as we don’t have to appear constantly engaged for the entire meetings, the avatar can do that for us

– It may be easier for the presenter to engage with others on the call, especially if they are getting more regular body-language feedback – even if it is from an avatar.

– It could even reduce the amount of zoom fatigue that is created by ‘the mirror effect’ of having to constantly self-adjust when seeing a reflection of self on-screen, potentially leaving to lower levels of exhaustion at the end of a workday.

I do have a few concerns though.

– If the avatar’s actions reflect the authors tone of voice, we will have to constantly mentally adjust our tone of voice to ensure the avatar is reflecting (or potentially not reflecting) our current feelings.

– Will this technology further alienate those who have lower levels of confidence when it comes to tech uptake? If you are not familiar with the new tech, having to learn how to use it in order to fulfil your job function, or keep up to speed with other members of the team, can add a lot of additional stress and anxiety to your role.

– For those having to already switch between multiple video conferencing platforms, such as freelancers, consultants or the self-employed, learning multiple complicated meta-based 3D virtual meeting platforms can become a real barrier to business productivity.

For Microsoft, this is another step forward towards a more 3D virtual work environment. They do, however, needs to go some way in developing easier to use augmented reality technology, if they are to create good up-take in the metaverse environment amongst business users. Although they seem to be head-to-head with Facebook (it may be some time before I can call them ‘Meta’) in the race for the metaverse domination, I do wonder if a smaller, more dynamic, tech company may just pull the meta-rug out from under their very large extended-reality feet.

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Image Source: Wikipedia

Elon Musk Launches Neuralink

by Human Technology Intercept

In his July 2019 presentation, Elon Musk talks about the advantages of human-AI integration. 

The probes in the brain, inserted by machines, read the electronic chemicals emitted via neurons. These have the potential to help people who have spinal cord injuries or brain injuries. He also suggests the potential to control 3D avatars in the future. 

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Virtual Reality Headset

Apple’s launching their own version of AR Headset

by Extended Reality

Apple are set to launch a new Augmented Reality headset. Is this the future of personal technology that will replace the iPhone & Smartwatch? I suspect it is.

The current wearing of facemasks and face shields is already conditioning us to be more comfortable wearing a ‘barrier’ between us and the ‘real world’. This could be where Google glasses failed – a future technology introduced too early in our socio-cultural behavioural evolution.

The World Economic Forum (as part of their Behavioural Sciences sub-agenda), have included ‘Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality’ within the ‘Technology, Digitisation and Behaviour’ category – so it is obviously something that they consider important to how we will integrate technology into our behaviour in the future.

It will be interesting to see if Apple can develop (as they always do) a much smarter, more consumer-friendly and less cumbersome device than Microsoft have with their Hololens. If they do, we could see a major shift in the acceptance of AR & VR into our everyday lives.

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