Virtual Teams, AI Writers & Resenteeism
5 in 5 - Brave & Heart HeartBeat #188 ❤️
This week we’ll be talking Teams meetings in the Metaverse, AI winning a literary prize and why hologram lecturers is a pretty worrying concept.
Plus, introducing the newest work buzzword and how are Chipotle planning to entice a new generation of workers?
Let’s get into it.
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#1 - Teams Join The Metaverse
Throw out your fun backgrounds, Teams have got something better.
Microsoft Teams have launched Mesh, which brings the virtual meetings of the Metaverse directly to your Teams app. Mesh offers a number of 3D environments which you can change depending on the mood, like a boardroom for meetings or outdoor spaces for networking.
Also interesting to note the virtual reality meetings in Mesh are only compatible with the MetaQuest headset, for now anyway.
You strap on your headset and then you can interact via your avatar, which you can design, who look basically exactly like the little people on Wii, and for some reason have nothing below the waist and float around like little ghosts – why not?
It’s pretty much the same as the meetings you can hold in the Metaverse, we’ve tried it and it is pretty cool.
It’s good for holding large meetings or presentations, when you present in Teams video call you can sometimes feel isolated from your audience, but networking? We’re not so sure.
Nicole Herskowitz, the VP of Microsoft Teams, said in the blog post announcing the launch of Mesh that businesses need “deep human connections” to “increase engagement, stimulate performance and retain talent”. She also noted that the way we work has changed.
So far so true, and sure, virtual working isn’t always the best for feeling connected to your team, but is interacting with avatar versions of them any better than seeing their actual faces through a screen? Probably not, and it may even be worse…
#2 - AI Helps Win Literary Prize
Japanese author Rie Kudan made sure to thank everyone who helped her write her novel, Tokyo Sympathy Tower when she recently won Japan’s top prize for literature, including ChatGPT.
The sci-fi novel was deemed “almost flawless” by the jury, but the backlash she received after announcing that she’d used generative AI to directly write about 5% of the novel verbatim came swift and sharp.
Many commentators were concerned about what the future of literature will be if AI generated text can compete for and win top awards.
The use of generative AI in the creative field is still pretty controversial, from literature to visual art, so much so that just last year a high-profile group of authors, including George R.R Martin, sued OpenAI for theft of their work, which they say was used to train ChatGPT.
There is a pretty big caveat to Kudan’s use of generative AI however. Her novel is set in a dystopian world in which humans relay on AI, and some of the text includes responses from a generative AI chatbot to queries relayed by her characters.
In this case, using a chat bot to write the answers is a logical use of the technology, which Kudan says she wants to “work with” to express her creativity.
Another interesting thing about this story is that it was partly influenced by Kudan’s personal use of AI chatbots, which she says she turned to discuss problems in her own life and feelings that she didn’t want to share with the people around her. When AI didn’t respond the way she expected it to she was inspired to write on the subject.
Creative, or cheating?
#3 – Lecture Via Hologram
Loughborough University is the first in Europe to explore the application of hologram technology in their classes – planning to use it to bring in sports scientists from MIT, teach fashion students how to create immersive shows and test management students on navigating difficult business situations. Apparently the technology will be in use in 2025, after a year of testing.
The tech in question are “box-based holographic units” sold by LA company protoans used by companies like IBM in meetins to avoid corporate travel, or H&M Stockholm to make interactive product displays.
Proto was founded four years ago by David Nussbaum, who worked on celebrity holograms, and Nussbaum boasts that the AI powered hologram technology could really bring anyone to life.
For example he says Proto has the technology to project an avatar of Stephen Hawking, hook it up to his books, lectures and social media, and create an AI Stephan Hawking that would look like him, sound like him, and interact as if it was him.
I guess if that was the case then universities like Loughborough could draft him in, as one of the greatest thinkers of our time, for free? Well, not for free exactly, they would have to pay Proto, but not Hawking himself…
Something to think about.
#4 - Introducing Resenteeism…
No, not Presenteeism, Resenteeism.
Resenteeism is the new work buzzword to add to our list. Much in the way that Rust Out (getting so bored of your job your brain literally shuts down) is the cousin of Burn Out, Resenteeism is Presenteeism’s cousin that hates it’s job so much but can’t stop coming in.
Resenteeism is described as when an employee stays in a job they’re fundamentally unhappy in due to concerns about job security or having no better options. It’s a slippery slope of employees deprioritising their job, feeling disengaged and unhappy at work, and finally actively resenting their work.
While Resenteeism will obviously be made worse by the winning (losing) combo of the cost of living crisis and the January blues, it was mostly caused by that seismic shift in the work landscape… you guessed it, The Great Resignation.
Apparently those who didn't resign, resent.
The pandemic resulted in many people re-evaluting their work, their priorities, and what they wanted their life to look like. While it ultimately resulted in people leaving the workforce in droves, apparently Resenteeism is what’s happened to those who did the re-evaluating and came to the same conclusions, but then… they stayed.
Experts suggest the best thing for managers to do when they suspect one of their team is suffering from Resenteeism is simply to start a conversation – maybe it can be solved, maybe they do need to move on to a different role, but knowing their manager cares is a good first step.
#5 - Trying To Lock In Gen Z
Chipotle are a business who’ve been in the news plenty, and not always for the best reasons (they’re a famously religious chain who close on Sundays and have been boycotted by LGBTQ groups due to anti gay marriage beliefs) but they caught our eye this week for their latest talent attraction efforts.
Apparently between the months of March and May is “burrito season” - Chipotle want to stock up on new staff, and they’re targeting Gen Z.
Last week they announced new financial and mental health employee perks as they increase this year’s hiring target by 27% from last year.
On the mental health side they’re offering six free sessions with a mental health professional – an important benefit for the generation that are the most open about supporting their mental health.
On the financial side they’re offering benefits tailored to young people. They’ll be matching up to 4% of the employees salary through 401(k) contributions for those who make student loan payments, offering access to a Visa credit card designed to help users build credit, and a personal finance platform.
The restaurant industry has had a lot of trouble hiring and keeping younger workers, let’s see if Chipotle’s tailored attraction plan works…
Brave & Heart over and out.
Bonus
It’s Emoji Time
Hold on tight, Apple have announced their new emojis, and six of them are “brand new emoji concepts”.
Head shaking emojis for yes or no, a lime, a mushroom, a phoenix and a broken chain.
The rest build on existing emojis, with options for gender neutral families and motirized wheelchair users.
We’d LOVE to see the data that leads them to decide that a lime and a mushroom emoji are desperately needed.
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