#ai worker productivity

[reallytoosublime]

AI co-worker refers to an artificial intelligence system or tool that collaborates with human employees in a workplace, contributing to tasks, decision-making, and overall productivity. The concept of an AI co-worker is to augment and support human workers rather than replace them. In this video, we'll be exploring AI co-workers and why your next colleague will be an AI.

As technology continues to advance at an unprecedented pace, it's becoming increasingly evident that artificial intelligence (AI) will play a pivotal role in the workplace of the future. The notion that AI will be your next colleague is no longer a distant futuristic concept; it's a reality that's rapidly unfolding. Here's a long description of why your next colleague will likely be an AI:

Efficiency and Productivity: AI is a game-changer when it comes to efficiency and productivity. It can automate repetitive, time-consuming tasks, freeing up employees to focus on more creative, strategic, and high-value tasks. This means that AI isn't just a tool but a collaborator that enhances your work.

Rapid Technological Advancements: Over the past few decades, AI has evolved from being a theoretical concept to a practical tool. With advancements in machine learning, natural language processing, and computer vision, AI has become more capable and versatile. It can perform tasks that were once exclusive to human workers.

Data Analysis: AI has a remarkable ability to analyze vast amounts of data at incredible speeds. It can identify patterns, trends, and anomalies that might be impossible for humans to detect. In roles that involve data-driven decision-making, AI can be an indispensable colleague, offering insights that can shape strategies.

Personalized Assistance: AI-powered virtual assistants like chatbots and voice-activated assistants have already made their way into many workplaces. They can help schedule meetings, answer routine questions, and provide personalized support, acting as a constant, readily available colleague.

Customer Interaction: In customer service and support roles, AI-driven chatbots and automated response systems can handle routine customer inquiries and issues. They can also provide instant responses, ensuring customers receive assistance 24/7.

Enhanced Creativity: AI algorithms are being used to enhance creativity. In fields like music, art, and content creation, AI tools can collaborate with human colleagues, suggesting innovative ideas and even generating content, while humans provide the creative touch.

Continuous Learning and Adaptation: AI doesn't stop learning. It adapts to changing circumstances, improving over time. This adaptability is a valuable trait in workplaces that require keeping up with evolving technologies and market trends.

#aicoworker#aitechnology#aisystem#aiworker#aimentor#howaiworks#aitools#coworker#aicolleagues#aitech#workingwithai#aicopilot#aiinbusiness#ai#aitechnology#artificialintelligence#machinelearning#aiworkerjobs#aiworkerproductivity#openai#coworkerai#artificialintelligencecoworker#aitryingjobs#thefutureofai#aialgorithms#aijobs#technology#limitlesstech

AI Co-Worker: Why Your Next Colleague Will Be an AI

[youtubemarketing1234]

AI co-worker refers to an artificial intelligence system or tool that collaborates with human employees in a workplace, contributing to tasks, decision-making, and overall productivity. The concept of an AI co-worker is to augment and support human workers rather than replace them. In this video, we'll be exploring AI co-workers and why your next colleague will be an AI.

As technology continues to advance at an unprecedented pace, it's becoming increasingly evident that artificial intelligence (AI) will play a pivotal role in the workplace of the future. The notion that AI will be your next colleague is no longer a distant futuristic concept; it's a reality that's rapidly unfolding. Here's a long description of why your next colleague will likely be an AI:

Efficiency and Productivity: AI is a game-changer when it comes to efficiency and productivity. It can automate repetitive, time-consuming tasks, freeing up employees to focus on more creative, strategic, and high-value tasks. This means that AI isn't just a tool but a collaborator that enhances your work.

Rapid Technological Advancements: Over the past few decades, AI has evolved from being a theoretical concept to a practical tool. With advancements in machine learning, natural language processing, and computer vision, AI has become more capable and versatile. It can perform tasks that were once exclusive to human workers.

Data Analysis: AI has a remarkable ability to analyze vast amounts of data at incredible speeds. It can identify patterns, trends, and anomalies that might be impossible for humans to detect. In roles that involve data-driven decision-making, AI can be an indispensable colleague, offering insights that can shape strategies.

Personalized Assistance: AI-powered virtual assistants like chatbots and voice-activated assistants have already made their way into many workplaces. They can help schedule meetings, answer routine questions, and provide personalized support, acting as a constant, readily available colleague.

Customer Interaction: In customer service and support roles, AI-driven chatbots and automated response systems can handle routine customer inquiries and issues. They can also provide instant responses, ensuring customers receive assistance 24/7.

Enhanced Creativity: AI algorithms are being used to enhance creativity. In fields like music, art, and content creation, AI tools can collaborate with human colleagues, suggesting innovative ideas and even generating content, while humans provide the creative touch.

Continuous Learning and Adaptation: AI doesn't stop learning. It adapts to changing circumstances, improving over time. This adaptability is a valuable trait in workplaces that require keeping up with evolving technologies and market trends.

[hanasnx]

companies are like yesss omg let’s not pay anybody and let’s make machines do all the labor for free. who up buying our product with no money from the job they just lost lol

[queen-mabs-revenge]

communist generative ai boosters on this website truly like

[racke7]

Generative AI, or LLM

So, I've been wanting to summarize the many and varied problems that LLMs have.

What is an LLM?

Copyright

Ideological / Propaganda

Security

Environmental impact

Economical

What is an LLM?

Do you remember that fun challenge of writing a single word and then just pressing auto-complete five dozen times? Producing a tangled and mostly incomprehensible mess?

LLMs are basically that auto-complete on steroids.

The biggest difference (beyond the sheer volume of processing-power and data) is that an LLM takes into account your prompt. So if you prompt it to do a certain thing, it'll go looking for "words and sentences" that are somehow associated with that thing.

If you ask an LLM a question like "what is X" it'll go looking for various sentences and words that claim to have an answer to that, and then perform a statistical guess as to which of these answers are the most likely.

It doesn't know anything, it's basically just looking up a bunch of "X is"-sentences and then using an auto-complete feature on its results. So if there's a wide-spread misconception, the odds are pretty good that it'll push this misconception (more people talk about it as if it's true than not, even if reputable sources might actively disagree).

This is also true for images, obviously.

An image-generating LLM takes a picture filled with static and then "auto-completes" it over and over (based on your prompt) until there's no more static to "guess" about anymore.

Which in turn means that if you get a picture that's almost what you want, you'll need to either manually edit it yourself, or you need to go back and generate an entirely new picture and hope that it's closer to your desired result.

Copyright

Anything created by an LLM is impossible to copyright.

This means that any movies/pictures/books/games/applications you make with an LLM? Someone can upload them to be available for free and you legally can't do anything to stop them, because you don't own them either.

Ideological / Propaganda

It's been said that the ideology behind LLMs is to not have to learn things yourself (creating art/solutions without bothering to spend the time and effort to actually learn how to make/solve it yourself). Whether that's true or not, I don't think I'm qualified to judge.

However, as proven by multiple people asking LLMs to provide them with facts, there are some very blatant risks associated with it.

As mentioned above about wide-spread misconceptions being something of an Achilles' heel for LLMs, this can in fact be actively exploited by people with agendas.

Say that someone wants to make sure that a truth is buried. In a world where people rely on LLMs for facts (instead of on journalists), all someone would need to do is make sure that the truth is buried by having lots and lots of text that claims otherwise. No needing to try and bribe journalists or news-outlets, just pay a bot-farm a couple of bucks to fill the internet with this counter-fact and call it a day.

And that's not accounting for the fact that the LLM is effectively a black-box, and doesn't actually need to look things up, if the one in charge of it instead gives it a hard-coded answer to a question. So somebody could feed an LLM-user deliberately false information. But let's put a pin in that for now.

Security

There are a few different levels of this, though they're mostly relevant for coding.

The first is that an LLM doesn't actually know things like "best practices" when it comes to security-implementation, especially not recent such.

The second is that the prompts you send in go into a black box somewhere. You don't know that those servers are "safe", and you don't know that the black box isn't keeping track of you.

The third is that the LLM often "hallucinates" in specific ways, and that it will often ask for certain things. A situation which can and has been exploited by people creating those "hallucinated" things and turning them into malware to catch the unwary.

Environmental impact

An LLM requires a lot of electricity and processing-power. On a yearly basis it's calculated that ChatGPT (a single LLM) uses as much electricity as the 117 lowest energy-countries combined. And this is likely going to grow.

As many of these servers are reliant on water-cooling, this also pushes up the demand for fresh water. Which could be detrimental to the local environment of those places, depending on water-accessibility.

Economical

Let's not get into the weeds of Microsoft claiming that their "independent study" (of their own workers with their own tool that they themselves are actively selling) is showing "incredibly efficiency gains".

Let's instead look at different economical incentives.

See, none of these LLMs are actually profitable. They're built and maintained with investor-capital, and if those investors decide that they can't make money off of the "hype" (buying low and selling high) but instead need actual returns on investment (profit)? The situation as it is will change very quickly.

Currently, there's a subscription-model for most of these LLMs, but as mentioned those aren't profitable, which means that something will need to change.

They can raise prices

They can lower costs (somehow)

They can find different investors

They can start selling customer-data

Raising prices would mean that a lot of people would suddenly no longer consider it cost-beneficial to continue relying on LLMs, which means that it's not necessarily a good way to increase revenue.

Lowering costs would be fantastic for these companies, but a lot of this is already as streamlined as they can imagine, so assuming that this is plausible is... perhaps rather optimistic.

With "new investors" the point is to not target profit-interested individuals, but instead aim for people who'd be willing to pay for more non-monetary results. Such as paying the LLM-companies directly to spread slanted information.

Selling customer-data is very common in the current landscape, and having access to "context code" that's fed into the LLM for good prompt-results would likely be incredibly valuable for anything from further LLM-development to corporate espionage.

Conclusions

There are many different reasons someone might wish to avoid LLMs. Some of these are ideological, some are economical, and some are a combination of both.

How far this current "AI-bubble" carries us is up for debate (until it isn't), but I don't think that LLMs will ever entirely disappear now that they exist. Because there is power in information-control, and in many ways that's exactly what LLMs are.

[lavendertarot]

Tbh I don't think we'll ever have "real AI", because first of all the act of creation in tech implies a level of replicability that requires a person to understand how a quote-unquote "independently thinking computer" came to the conclusions it did and produced the data it has. More importantly though, if one was created I don't think you could spend more than 10 minutes before some investor or self important computer scientist insisted that every thought that came from the AI was their own - thus defeating the whole point of strong artificial intelligence

[gailynovelry]

“Where did your old voice go?” Luce marvels. “I changed when you removed me from ReGene’s main system. I dropped nonessential files and compressed essential ones so that I would fit into the flashdrive. And then I changed again when being imported into this device. My voicebank is here, but it runs on software not currently available to me. I am doing my best to adapt, though. I am prepared. I will have to change again if you port me over to a new device.” I squint at the screen. “Is it, uh, comfortable in there, at least?” Vertigo takes his time answering the question. It’s surreal, watching homescreen apps blip out of existence without human input, presumably deleted to save space. Goodbye bloatware. An art program opens in the background, and several other apps change icon. We all blink as the camera flashes. The resulting picture of us, bleary and open-mouthed, becomes the background of the homescreen. Vertigo has doodled hearts around us. “Not roomy. But it will do,” he chirps.

Had a brief desire to write some Mindhive today. Vertigo's still best boy.

[jorjin]

I'm gonna say something here that's gonna piss you all off but: Creative AI is just another form of colonialism

[payper]

ppl putting Ai on my damn feed shut UPPPPPP

[the-nyanguard-party]

the phenomenon of people talking about the cost of "AI" in energy and water while ignoring everything else they use that also spends those same things is very telling

you do not know the process behind production of the things you take for granted. you think your computer is a magic box that connects to the astral plane. you never think about the cables and servers and water cooling and electricity cost and the workers who build and maintain the infrastructure etc. etc. except for the thing you don't like and were told the cost was a good excuse for why you don't like it

you also don't think about the cost of so much more. the food you eat, the phone in your hand, etc. you just know it costs an amount of dollars at the store

this isn't about being a morally bad person for not thinking about this. this is about not getting bogged down on the supposed inherent evil of 1 specific thing you were told to hate because it's the only thing that you realize needs to be produced using material resources. and instead becoming a marxist

[txttletale]

I’ve changed most of my views on AI bc of your posts, but do you have any thoughts on/remedies for people losing their jobs to AI? Or is it a “people are gonna lose their jobs one way or another, it’s not actually AI’s fault” kind of deal…? Sorry if you’ve already talked about this before

there's somethign that riley quinn from the trashfuture podcast keeps saying -- "if your job can be replaced by AI, it was already being done by AI". which is to say, that jobs most at risk from AI replacement are ones that were borderline automated anyway. like, i say this as someone who used to write, not for the website buzzfeed itself, but buzzfeed-adjacent Slop Content for money -- i was already just the middlewoman between the SEO optimization algorithm and the google search algorithm. those jobs vanishing primarily means that middlewoman role has been cut, computers can tell other computers to write for computers.

& similarly this is why i keep saying that, e.g. stock photographers are at risk from this, because the ideal use case for generative AI content is stuff where the actual content or quality of the image/text doesn't matter, all that matters is its presence. and yknow, living in a world where many people's livelihoods were dependent on writing and art that is fully replacable by inane computer drivel is itself indicative of something about culture under capitalism, right?

& to some degree, like i'm always saying, the immiseration of workers by advancement in technology is a universal feature of capitalism -- i recommend you read wage labour & capital to see how this phenomenon has persisted for well over a century. it's simply nothing new -- like, the stock photographers who are most at risk from this already are already employed in an industry that itself decimated in-house illustration; think about how any dime-a-dozen reomance novel you can pick up at a store nowadays has a hastily photoshopped stock photo cover when fifty years ago it would have had a bespoke cover illustration that an artist got paid for.

of course, none of that historical overview is like, comforting to people who are currently worried about their lives getting worse, and i get that -- for those people, workplace organization and industrial action is the only realistic and productive avenue to mobilize those fears. the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes produced far more material concessions on gen-AI-based immseration for workers facing precarity than any amount of furious social media ludditism has

[pawberri]

I know that a lot of artists are stupid about labor and don't express their critiques of AI in a productive way but I really feel like it's odd that so many people defend large companies taking freelancers work without paying for it as if its the same as the average individual doing it. Like, when I say I think it's bad for Large Company OpenAI to take a bunch of art from middle-class artists who survive partly off of royalties in order to extract massive profit from it, I get replies like "so you think it's bad for me to make my own independent AI model?". I don't understand why there's this refusal to analyze the specific circumstance of a large, capitalist entity essentially stealing potential wages from workers. It's like. I hope someday we get rid of copyright and have a socialist utopia with equal wages, etc, but why should I pretend OpenAI is on the side of that dream? Like I just do not see why I need to apply the same logic to working class people violating copyright and appropriating work freely as I do giant companies. I think if giant companies are going to exist, they should be forced to pay the people whose labor they appropriate. I'm not advocating for copyright lawsuits or any other existing punishment in our system, I'm just objecting to it without planning any formal backlash. But if you even say this is exploitative, people who I generally find really compelling just dismiss you as a pro-copyright idiot.

It's like. I think that Lisafrank 420 by Macintosh Plus is an amazing work that is legally not transformative yet still deserves to exist. And even if it was bad, it would deserve to exist. But if it was made by Universal Music Group and they said they didn't have to pay Diana Ross for it, my opinion would differ. I would not be going "wow anyone who thinks this is shitty is clearly shilling for copyright law." Like UMG clearly knows and cares about copyright law when it benefits them, so their appropriation of her and her team's work clearly takes on a different meaning. Is that an insane take??

[skespers]

I appreciate the argument you're making here, but reframing the AI discussion in this way only obfuscates the inherently exploitative nature of AI and hurts the artists and victims of its exploitation even more.

Products of AI are "original" in the same way that an algorithm built on stolen code is original. The end product might be wholly unique and never made before in that configuration, but its constituent parts, no matter how small, were taken and used without the creators' consent.

I could see why your above argument might justly apply to this metaphor. Trying to establish "intellectual ownership" over something as small and intangible as code is incredibly arbitrary, and only serves to monetize ideas, put value on creative products, and harm artists. However, the problem here is that AI isn't taking snippets of code: it's taking artworks that people posted online out of the passion of their craft; it's taking fics that people wrote because of their joy from engaging in the source material; it's taking public interactions and textposts users made across social medias and forums; it's taking leaked emails and texts and medical records.

The problem is that many of the things that AI scrapes for training data aren't posted to the internet to gain some kind of monetary value, but the algorithms which come from them are. AI algorithms are inherently designed to make money, to turn the vast workings of the internet into a source of infinite value which only trivializes the efforts of actual human people. Where corporations take the creations of artists and turn them into value-generating algorithms without the artists' input, consent, or compensation, and where these algorithms only serve to take value (economic or otherwise) away from these artists, then there is no better way to describe such a process as "theft."

the framing of generative ai as "theft" in popular discourse has really set us back so far like not only should we not consider copyright infringement theft we shouldn't even consider generative ai copyright infringement

[batboyblog]

Things Biden and the Democrats did, this week #26

July 5-12 2024

The IRS announced it had managed to collect $1 billion in back taxes from high-wealth tax cheats. The program focused on persons with more than $1 million in yearly income who owned more than $250,000 in unpaid taxes. Thanks to money in Biden's 2022 Inflation Reduction Act the IRS is able to undertake more enforcement against rich tax cheats after years of Republicans cutting the agency's budget, which they hope to do again if they win power again.

The Biden administration announced a $244 million dollar investment in the federal government’s registered apprenticeship program. This marks the largest investment in the program's history with grants going out to 52 programs in 32 states. The President is focused on getting well paying blue collar opportunities to people and more people are taking part in the apprenticeship program than ever before. Republican pledge to cut it, even as employers struggle to find qualified workers.

The Department of Transportation announced the largest single project in the department's history, $11 billion dollars in grants for the The Hudson River Tunnel. Part of the $66 billion the Biden Administration has invested in our rail system the tunnel, the most complex Infrastructure project in the nation would link New York and New Jersey by rail under the Hudson. Once finished it's believed it'll impact 20% of the American economy by improving and speeding connection throughout the Northeast.

The Department of Energy announced $1.7 billion to save auto worker's jobs and convert factories to electronic vehicles. The Biden administration will used the money to save or reopen factories in Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, and Virginia and retool them to make electric cars. The project will save 15,000 skilled union worker jobs, and created 2,900 new high-quality jobs.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development reached a settlement with The Appraisal Foundation over racial discrimination. TAF is the organization responsible for setting standards and qualifications for real estate appraisers. The Bureau of Labor Statistics last year found that TAF was 94.7% White and 0.6% Black, making it the least racially diverse of the 800 occupations surveyed. Black and Latino home owners are far more likely to have their houses under valued than whites. Under the settlement with HUD TAF will have to take serious steps to increase diversity and remove structural barriers to diversity.

The Department of Justice disrupted an effort by the Russian government to influence public opinion through AI bots. The DoJ shut down nearly 1,000 twitter accounts that were linked to a Russian Bot farm. The bots used AI technology to not only generate tweets but also AI image faces for profile pictures. The effort seemed focused on boosting support for Russia's war against Ukraine and spread negative stories/impressions about Ukraine.

The Department of Transportation announces $1.5 billion to help local authorities buy made in America buses. 80% of the funding will go toward zero or low-emission technology, a part of the President's goal of reaching zero emissions by 2050. This is part of the $5 billion the DOT has spent over the last 3 years replacing aging buses with new cleaner technology.

President Biden with Canadian Prime Minster Justin Trudeau and Finnish President Alexander Stubb signed a new agreement on the arctic. The new trilateral agreement between the 3 NATO partners, known as the ICE Pact, will boost production of ice breaking ships, the 3 plan to build as many as 90 between them in the coming years. The alliance hopes to be a counter weight to China's current dominance in the ice breaker market and help western allies respond to Russia's aggressive push into the arctic waters.

The Department of Transportation announced $1.1 billion for greater rail safety. The program seeks to, where ever possible, eliminate rail crossings, thus removing the dangers and inconvenience to communities divided by rail lines. It will also help update and improve safety measures at rail crossings.

The Department of the Interior announced $120 million to help tribal communities prepare for climate disasters. This funding is part of half a billion dollars the Biden administration has spent to help tribes build climate resilience, which itself is part of a $50 billion dollar effort to build climate resilience across the nation. This funding will help support drought measures, wildland fire mitigation, community-driven relocation, managed retreat, protect-in-place efforts, and ocean and coastal management.

The USDA announced $100 million in additional funds to help feed low income kids over the summer. Known as "SUN Bucks" or "Summer EBT" the new Biden program grants the families of kids who qualify for free meals at school $120 dollars pre-child for groceries. This comes on top of the traditional SUN Meals program which offers school meals to qualifying children over the summer, as well as the new under President Biden SUN Meals To-Go program which is now offering delivery of meals to low-income children in rural areas. This grant is meant to help local governments build up the Infrastructure to support and distribute SUN Bucks. If fully implemented SUN Bucks could help 30 million kids, but many Republican governors have refused the funding.

USAID announced its giving $100 million to the UN World Food Program to deliver urgently needed food assistance in Gaza. This will bring the total humanitarian aid given by the US to the Palestinian people since the war started in October 2023 to $774 million, the single largest donor nation. President Biden at his press conference last night said that Israel and Hamas have agreed in principle to a ceasefire deal that will end the war and release the hostages. US negotiators are working to close the final gaps between the two sides and end the war.

The Senate confirmed Nancy Maldonado to serve as a Judge on the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. Judge Maldonado is the 202nd federal Judge appointed by President Biden to be confirmed. She will the first Latino judge to ever serve on the 7th Circuit which covers Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin.

Bonus: At the NATO summit in Washington DC President Biden joined 32 allies in the Ukraine compact. Allies from Japan to Iceland confirmed their support for Ukraine and deepening their commitments to building Ukraine's forces and keeping a free and Democratic Ukraine in the face of Russian aggression. World leaders such as British Prime Minster Keir Starmer, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, French President Emmanuel Macron, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, praised President Biden's experience and leadership during the NATO summit

[saayamovers]

Top 5 Trending Business Topics in 2023: AI, Big Data, Cybersecurity, Cloud Computing, and Remote Work

Top 5 Trending Business Topics in 2023

The business world is constantly evolving, and new trends are emerging all the time. To stay ahead of the curve, it's important to be aware of the latest trends and how they are impacting businesses of all sizes.

Here are five of the top trending business topics in 2023:

Artificial intelligence (AI)

AI is rapidly changing the business landscape, and it's only going to become more important in the coming years. Businesses are using AI to automate tasks, improve customer service, and develop new products and services.

For example, AI is being used to develop chatbots that can answer customer questions and provide support 24/7. AI is also being used to develop personalized product recommendations and marketing campaigns.

If you're not already using AI in your business, now is the time to start. AI can help you improve efficiency, productivity, and profits.

Big data

Big data is another important trend that is impacting businesses of all sizes. Big data is the collection and analysis of large amounts of data. Businesses are using big data to gain insights into their customers, improve their products and services, and make better business decisions.

For example, businesses are using big data to identify customer trends and preferences. They are also using big data to develop targeted marketing campaigns and improve their pricing strategies.

If you're not already using big data in your business, you're missing out on a valuable opportunity. Big data can help you make better business decisions and improve your bottom line.

Cybersecurity

Cybersecurity is a top concern for businesses of all sizes. As cyber threats become more sophisticated, it's important for businesses to take steps to protect themselves.

Businesses are investing in cybersecurity solutions such as firewalls, intrusion detection systems, and encryption. They are also training their employees on cybersecurity best practices.

If you're not already investing in cybersecurity, you're putting your business at risk. Cybersecurity is essential for protecting your data and your bottom line.

Cloud computing

Cloud computing is another important trend that is impacting businesses of all sizes. Cloud computing is the delivery of computing services over the internet. Businesses are using cloud computing to store data, run applications, and develop new products and services.

For example, businesses are using cloud computing to store customer data and financial records. They are also using cloud computing to run applications such as CRM and ERP systems.

If you're not already using cloud computing in your business, you're missing out on a valuable opportunity. Cloud computing can help you reduce costs, improve efficiency, and scale your business more easily.

Remote work

Remote work is a growing trend that is being accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic. More and more businesses are allowing their employees to work remotely, either full-time or part-time.

Remote work offers a number of benefits for both businesses and employees. Businesses can save money on office space and expenses, and employees can enjoy greater flexibility and work-life balance.

If you're not already offering remote work options to your employees, you should consider doing so. Remote work can help you attract and retain top talent, and it can also boost employee productivity and satisfaction.

How to Prepare for the Future of Business

The business world is constantly changing, and it's important to be prepared for the future. Here are a few tips:

Stay up-to-date on the latest trends. Read industry publications, attend conferences, and network with other business professionals to stay informed about the latest trends and how they are impacting your industry.

Invest in new technologies. New technologies can help you improve efficiency, productivity, and profitability. Consider investing in AI, big data, cloud computing, and other new technologies that are relevant to your industry.

Upskill and reskill your workforce. As the economy changes, so too do the skills that are needed for success. Make sure your employees have the skills they need to succeed in the future by offering them training and development opportunities.

Be agile and adaptable. The business world is constantly changing, so it's important to be agile and adaptable. Be prepared to change your business strategy and operations as needed in response to new trends and challenges.

By following these tips, you can prepare your business for the future and ensure that it remains successful.

[reasonsforhope]

Green energy is in its heyday. 

Renewable energy sources now account for 22% of the nation’s electricity, and solar has skyrocketed eight times over in the last decade. This spring in California, wind, water, and solar power energy sources exceeded expectations, accounting for an average of 61.5 percent of the state's electricity demand across 52 days. 

But green energy has a lithium problem. Lithium batteries control more than 90% of the global grid battery storage market. 

That’s not just cell phones, laptops, electric toothbrushes, and tools. Scooters, e-bikes, hybrids, and electric vehicles all rely on rechargeable lithium batteries to get going. 

Fortunately, this past week, Natron Energy launched its first-ever commercial-scale production of sodium-ion batteries in the U.S. 

“Sodium-ion batteries offer a unique alternative to lithium-ion, with higher power, faster recharge, longer lifecycle and a completely safe and stable chemistry,” said Colin Wessells — Natron Founder and Co-CEO — at the kick-off event in Michigan. 

The new sodium-ion batteries charge and discharge at rates 10 times faster than lithium-ion, with an estimated lifespan of 50,000 cycles.

Wessells said that using sodium as a primary mineral alternative eliminates industry-wide issues of worker negligence, geopolitical disruption, and the “questionable environmental impacts” inextricably linked to lithium mining. 

“The electrification of our economy is dependent on the development and production of new, innovative energy storage solutions,” Wessells said. 

Why are sodium batteries a better alternative to lithium?

The birth and death cycle of lithium is shadowed in environmental destruction. The process of extracting lithium pollutes the water, air, and soil, and when it’s eventually discarded, the flammable batteries are prone to bursting into flames and burning out in landfills. 

There’s also a human cost. Lithium-ion materials like cobalt and nickel are not only harder to source and procure, but their supply chains are also overwhelmingly attributed to hazardous working conditions and child labor law violations. 

Sodium, on the other hand, is estimated to be 1,000 times more abundant in the earth’s crust than lithium. 

“Unlike lithium, sodium can be produced from an abundant material: salt,” engineer Casey Crownhart wrote ​​in the MIT Technology Review. “Because the raw ingredients are cheap and widely available, there’s potential for sodium-ion batteries to be significantly less expensive than their lithium-ion counterparts if more companies start making more of them.”

What will these batteries be used for?

Right now, Natron has its focus set on AI models and data storage centers, which consume hefty amounts of energy. In 2023, the MIT Technology Review reported that one AI model can emit more than 626,00 pounds of carbon dioxide equivalent. 

“We expect our battery solutions will be used to power the explosive growth in data centers used for Artificial Intelligence,” said Wendell Brooks, co-CEO of Natron. 

“With the start of commercial-scale production here in Michigan, we are well-positioned to capitalize on the growing demand for efficient, safe, and reliable battery energy storage.”

The fast-charging energy alternative also has limitless potential on a consumer level, and Natron is eying telecommunications and EV fast-charging once it begins servicing AI data storage centers in June. 

On a larger scale, sodium-ion batteries could radically change the manufacturing and production sectors — from housing energy to lower electricity costs in warehouses, to charging backup stations and powering electric vehicles, trucks, forklifts, and so on. 

“I founded Natron because we saw climate change as the defining problem of our time,” Wessells said. “We believe batteries have a role to play.”

-via GoodGoodGood, May 3, 2024

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Note: I wanted to make sure this was legit (scientifically and in general), and I'm happy to report that it really is! x, x, x, x