End of Week Roundup! [Issue #73]

Happy Friday from Beem!

Another week, another Roundup here for you: let’s see what’s been shaking the Tech, Comms and HR world this week! But before we dive in: don’t forget to send us an email to hey@wearebeem.com if you have a story you want to share! Whether it’s about leadership, HR, innovation, company culture or communications or even your own story, we’re keen to learn, so share it with us and we may feature your post in our upcoming issue.

Right, what’s been making waves this week? Check this out and join the discussion below!

Enjoy!

 

 

Three ways to help solve the HR productivity problem

 

 

Recent research has revealed that HR workers spend seven hours a week manually checking, responding to and keeping up with different HR applications – the equivalent of 367 hours a year.

With these workflow interruptions, it comes as no surprise that almost 90% of HR professionals believe that increasing their workplace productivity is a top priority for 2019, as this will allow more time for the impactful parts of HR, such as hiring and retaining talent, engaging employees, and making the world a better place to work.

This leads us to the question: how can you, as HR professionals, better manage your HR systems, improve workflow and increase productivity?

 

 

When AI Becomes a Part of Our Daily Lives

 

 

As we live longer and technology continues its rapid arc of development, we can imagine a future where machines will augment our human abilities and help us make better life choices, from health to wealth. Instead of conducting a question and answer with a device on the countertop, we will be able to converse naturally with our virtual assistant that is fully embedded in our physical environment. Through our dialogue and digital breadcrumbs, it will understand our life goals and aspirations, our obligations and limitations. It will seamlessly and automatically help us budget and save for different life events, so we can spend more time enjoying life’s moments.

While we can imagine this future, the technology itself is not without challenges — at least for now. The ability for artificial intelligence to understand the complexities and nuances of human conversation is one hurdle. But what are the others? How will we deal with a growing presence of AI in our everyday lives?

 

 

Why San Francisco’s ban on face recognition is only the start of a long fight

 

 

San Francisco has become the first US city to ban the use of facial recognition by its government. But though privacy advocates are celebrating, the ordinance doesn’t stop private companies from using facial ID in ways that many people find creepy. It might, however, be the first step.

The use of face recognition technology has become increasingly common, despite evidence that it frequently misidentifies people of color. Activists warn that it could lead to false arrests, or be used to track people’s whereabouts and target dissenters who have done nothing wrong.

In many ways, though, it’s unsurprising that the tech-obsessed city is the first to restrict the technology and other tech-savvy cities are likely to follow its lead. Is London going to be next? And what do we learn from this?

 

 

Did we miss something? Let us know in the comments section below and we’ll feature your article in next week’s Roundup!

Also, let us know what type of content you guys want more or less of, we’re all ears!