To be, or not to be humanlike, that is the question for marketing AI

As a concept, Artificial Intelligence (AI) is usually defined in terms of how closely its workings (e.g., ability to hold a conversation) resemble human reasoning. The closer it is to humanlike performance, the better the AI is deemed to be (read about the Turing test, here). But what about the way the AI looks? Or … Continue reading To be, or not to be humanlike, that is the question for marketing AI

Exploring digital technology interactions between residents and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea council, during Covid-19

Yesterday, I went to London with my colleagues Danae Manika and Donna-Marie Holder, to deliver a presentation to the Adult Social Care and Health Select Committee of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (RBKC), on the emerging findings from a research project that we all have been working on, alongside two other colleagues: Emma … Continue reading Exploring digital technology interactions between residents and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea council, during Covid-19

Screen multitasking, cognitive overload, and learning

This week, for me, is week 1 of a new academic year (not all universities start at the same time; and, indeed, even within the same university, there may be staggering starts for different programmes and year groups. Luckily, this year I managed to go back to the classroom. I say “luckily” because, while teaching … Continue reading Screen multitasking, cognitive overload, and learning

What I have been reading #5

13th book of 2021 - “The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and Other Clinical Tales” by Oliver Sacks I added this book to my “to read” list back in 2015, when I read Oliver Sacks’s obituary in The Guardian, and became really intrigued about Sacks and his work. Sacks was a neurologist, … Continue reading What I have been reading #5

On academics and practitioners working together

Last Friday, I published a blog post with some thoughts on the potential and limitations of using technology to support assisted living, in the home. This is a matter that is very much in mind, lately, due to some events with ageing relatives. It is also very much on Tim’s mind – who is a … Continue reading On academics and practitioners working together

The potential and limitations of AI in home care – the users’ view

This week, the English parliament approved a new “health and social care” tax, corresponding to an increase in National Insurance contributions from 12% to 13.25% of salary (i.e., a whopping 10.4% increase!!). This increase is to pay for the home care needs of older people, disabled citizens, and others with high care needs. That is, for carers … Continue reading The potential and limitations of AI in home care – the users’ view

New paper “Digital strategy aligning in SMEs: A dynamic capabilities perspective”

Several years ago, Sarah Quinton, Rebecca Pera, Sebastián Molinillo, Lyndon Simkin and I set out to investigate how small and business organisation (SMEs) adopt digital technology, and how they adapt their strategy to succeed in the digital environment. While there is a significant body of work on digitalisation, it tends to focus on large organisations, … Continue reading New paper “Digital strategy aligning in SMEs: A dynamic capabilities perspective”

About choice of words and citation levels

I have been thinking a lot about “labels”, recently – about how they are subjective, and about how they have consequences. For instance, calling July 19th “Freedom Day” doesn’t really mean that Covid-19 is no longer prevalent, or dangerous. Cases, hospitalisations or, indeed, deaths, didn’t dramatically drop between Sunday 18th and Monday 19th. Yet, the “Freedom Day” … Continue reading About choice of words and citation levels

Drivers of acceptance of AI vary with type of service setting

Not all consumption settings are the same. They can range from situations where we can easily evaluate what we are consuming (for instance, buying a new car), to situations where we can only evaluate what we are consuming afterwards (for instance, renting a car), as well as situations where we will struggle to evaluate what … Continue reading Drivers of acceptance of AI vary with type of service setting