Delayed Apple Intelligence, AI Dating & The Hybrid Office
5 in 5 - Brave & Heart HeartBeat #208 ❤️
This week we're talking delayed Apple Intelligence, the ex OpenAI scientist who is striking back, and how AI has taken the dating world hostage.
And out of AI and into the workplace, we'll be discussing hybrid working and what it means for the future of the office, plus how we can make the workplace more neurodivergent friendly.
Let’s get into it.
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#1 - EU vs Apple Intelligence
While we’ve been waxing lyrical about Apple Intelligence, EU regulations behind the scenes have been conspiring to deny us the next big thing.
Three of the new artificial intelligence features will be delayed in the EU – Phone Mirroring, Shareplay Screen Sharing Enhancements, and Apple Intelligence
Why? Well, it’s not necessarily to do with not meeting EU regulations for data privacy – unlike most of what Meta does – but more about Apple being in trouble with the EU’s Digital Markets Act.
The DMA recently forced Apple to allow third-party apps into their App Store, and to reduce the fees that developers face by putting their apps for sale there, in accordance with their fair competition and anti-monopoly rules.
Apple were mad about this not just because of the potentially huge revenue loss (allegedly) but also because they will have less regulatory control over what apps can be downloaded on their devices, stating when the decision came in that users may be more at risk of being exposed to apps which contain “scams”, or “illicit or harmful content”.
These third-party apps seem to be the reason Apple won’t be launching their AI features in Europe, but the actual details are hard to get a hold of, apart from the fact that Apple don’t think they can launch the features with enough “privacy and security” due to the rules in place.
What do we think? Are Apple potentially just making a fuss and hoping that people want the AI features enough to make the EU go back on their third-party apps rule and claw back their App Store Monopoly?
#2 – The Scientists Strike Back
While we discussed OpenAI’s “villian” arc last week (when they hired an ex-NSA-ex-Army General to be in charge of security on their board), is OpenAI former Chief Scientist Ilya Sutskever starting his hero arc?
He could just be another villian, of course, but he has been busy either way.
Sutskever has just launched a new AI startup called Safe Superintelligence Inc., which he describes as the AI company that will prioritze safety over ‘commercial pressures’.
What’s the point of that though, if the biggest one on the markey right now is already doing the opposite?
Well, Sutskever and his new team are concentred on one thing and ont thing only, creating a SAFE superintelligence – without external pressure from “management overhead or product cycles”.
Maybe he thinks that with this “singular focus” and a team of actual scientists he can get to superintelligence, or the famed General Artificial Intelligence before the bad guys, we mean the OpenAI team can.
#3 - AI Takes The Dating World By Storm (Or Hostage)
While we don’t expect dating an AI bot to become mainstream, although many people DO have what the refer to as "deep relationships” with AI bots, for example on sites like Replika, dating without the input of ANY AI at all may be a distant memory.
Dating apps have been pretty mainstream for a while, and lots of them are getting in on the act when it comes to using AI features. Tinder, for example, can now use AI to tell you which of your photos will get you the most matches.
Also, algorithms on Match group’s apps - which include Tinder, Hinge, and OKCupid will start training on your swipe data to show you more of what you might like and less of what you won’t. No more wild card swipes for you…
Plus, AI can also act as a dating wingman. The app Rizz, short for charisma, can give you responses to the classic conversations you may have on a dating app to make you more funny and interesting the same way that autocorrect makes sure you can spell properly.
Now we can get catfished on personality too, fantastic!
#4 - Hybrid Working Works
Yet another study has shown that hybrid working is good for the body and good for the soul.
We can’t help but wonder though, while hybrid working is a great option because it keeps the benefits of the office alive – meeting up with colleagues, socialising and just getting out of the house are all good for you – how are businesses going to pay for it?
While on the one hand nothing will have changed for your bottom line – if you could afford an office before you can afford it now even if there are less people in it – should we really be using half-empty offices? Should offices get smaller to account for less staff being there at any one time, or could shared offices become a more mainstream option?
Either way, the way we work is changed and we have to keep up.
#5 - Neurodivergent Friendly Workplace
When it comes to inclusion and diversity in the workplace, we’re only just getting to grips with what it means to make the working world accessible to neurodivergent people, but with rising diagnosis rates for both ADHD and autism in adults comes a new understanding in the role neurodiversity plays in working life.
And while neurodivergent workers have a legal right to request “reasonable adjustments” at work, many are too scared to ask for fear of discrimination from their employers or colleagues.
These little changes can make a huge difference, such as a checklist for new starters which details “informal etiquette” i.e. which mugs you can and can’t use in the office kitchen and what the tea round usually looks like, to warmer office lighting, letting people start work early, or turning off the radio and letting employees use headphones.
Adjustments can also be made to the interview process, such as allowing candidates to see questions in advance so they can prepare, and setting interview tasks which are more practical rather than asking questions about situations that could be more about “fitting in” socially (depending on the job, of course).
A recent US study found that workers with ADHD had a 60% higher chance of being fired along with being three times more likely to quit impulsively, and 30% of autistics adults in the US don’t have a job, despite wanting one, so there’s still some work to do.
But now we know, we can do better.
Brave & Heart over and out.
Bonus
The Banana Game
What is the banana game?
Basically, you click on a banana for hours at a time for no reason, but apparently it can generate free money?
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