We interrupt normal broadcasting for a thought bubble !

Good Morning.

I got into my car this morning as usual and at some point I pull up Spotify to play one of my own playlists.  This morning I was a victim of their own marketing initiatives.  Instead of my recent heavy rotation playlists being at the top there was this podcast link to Startup.  I read the blurb and it seemed interesting since I did have a stint as an entrepreneur in starting up a small retail/wholesale business when I finished university.  So I started the podcast and interestingly it was on the live journey of Gimlet.  This episode dealt with the run up to Spotify acquiring them.  One area of discussion that they mentioned was the cultural or managerial differences in running the business.  Matt was focused on strategy and running the company by logic and numbers.  Whilst, Alex was running the creative and content.  One comment stuck out that the word “feeling” came up.  In that if in business review meeting something was discussed that touched on the creative side then the word “feeling” kept coming up.  “That doesn’t feel right”  or that “feels like a good idea” whereas the numbers (sponsorship, subscriptions, revenue and growth) would be counter to what felt good

Like all good marriages there will be this counter balance.  But it got me to thinking that AI projects fundamentally need to align to the strategy of an organization: ( Cost/Value, Industry/Market differentiation etc). However if culture change is not incorporated into the project then we will hit a larger wall.  Organizational change management is always given lip service but when you deal with peoples “feelings” in business there has to be a means to accommodate and or incorporate that into to plan for AI to succeed.

I always reflect back to the fact that tip jars or charity jars in shops always do better if you put ‘googlly eyes’ on the jar.  The put a human face—or at least eyes—on something seems to help in interaction and success.  Robotics is the third arm of AI and we are seeing that if a human interaction element deals with perception, interaction and emotion it is more successful as well.

Bottom line of this thought bubble: plan for and incorporate the broad array of perceptions and emotions into the AI solution design and business case.

Now back to normal programming.