And, just like that, half of 2023 is gone. Woosh. Though, to be fair, I am very glad that the GCSEs are done with. Over. Behind us. Check. This month we also celebrated child 1’s birthday, and child 2’s ice-hockey tournament with England’s U16 team. Very sadly, I also learned that someone I had been … Continue reading June 2023 round-up
New research grant: The role of consumers in driving UK manufacturing’s digital transformation
I am delighted to share the news that I am part of group that has just secured funding from ESRC’s InterAct initiative. The project is entitled “The role of consumers in driving UK manufacturing’s digital transformation” and aims to identify the factors that lead consumers to adopt new Everything as a Service (XaaS) models of consumption of … Continue reading New research grant: The role of consumers in driving UK manufacturing’s digital transformation
Rethinking existential risk from AI
In a recent interview on Lex Friedman’s podcast, Meta’s CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, was asked whether he worried about the existential threat presented by the rapid development of Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems. He replied: “My own view is that, where we really need to be careful is on the development of autonomy, and how you think about that… … Continue reading Rethinking existential risk from AI
Implications of open vs closed metaverses for users and developers
In the June issue of MISQ Executive, Mary Lacity, Jeffrey K. Mullins and Le Kuai reflect on the evolution of Metaverse. The paper, which takes the form of an interview, is entitled “Evolution of the Metaverse”, and can be found here. Me, as ProfAbobora, on Roblox Since last summer, I have been doing some work about … Continue reading Implications of open vs closed metaverses for users and developers
May 2023 round-up
May was busy. There were several big things happening at the same time, and I constantly felt being pulled between different demands on my time and attention. As much as possible, I tried focusing only on the task at hand, rather than let myself feel overwhelmed about everything that had to be done. This is … Continue reading May 2023 round-up
The importance of focusing on a target segment (and how to decide which one)
In episode 11 of season 11 of the Marketing Companion, Mark Schaefer and his guest, Jay Acunzo, discuss “the meaning of brand and personal relevance in a world exploding with new creative output”. Their discussion is focused on content creation, but the points that they cover are relevant well beyond this application. For instance, they … Continue reading The importance of focusing on a target segment (and how to decide which one)
Day in the Life of an Academic #15: The research sandpit
While the previous DITL post focused on something that I do regularly (i.e., teaching), this one looks at something that I had never done before: participate in a research sandpit. UKRI, the UK’s government main body for funding research and innovation, defines research sandpits as residential, interactive workshops bringing together “a highly multidisciplinary mix of participants (…) … Continue reading Day in the Life of an Academic #15: The research sandpit
In search for evidence of ChatGPT’s user experiences and perceptions
Last week, I did a presentation at the University of Birmingham, related to the paper “Snakes and Ladders: Unpacking the Personalisation-Privacy Paradox in the Context of AI-Enabled Personalisation in the Physical Retail Environment”, with Brendan Keegan and Maria Ryzhikh. In that paper, we report on the results of a study which looked at young female … Continue reading In search for evidence of ChatGPT’s user experiences and perceptions
What if AI was your customer? Some thoughts on LLMs as medical patients
Some time ago I read a paper by Ming-Hui Huang and Roland T. Rust where they introduced the idea of AI as a customer. In the paper appropriately titled “AI as customer”, which was published in the Journal of Service Management, Huang and Rust present the idea that AI, in addition to being used to … Continue reading What if AI was your customer? Some thoughts on LLMs as medical patients
April 2023 round-up
This month saw progress on various research projects. I got selected for an innovation sandpit*, which I am really excited about (except for the guilt about being away from home while child 2 has GCSE exams); and took the first steps on a project related to improving attitudes to learning among an at-risk population. The … Continue reading April 2023 round-up
Ana Canhoto 