Máirín Murray

It was a huge honour to be invited to be the after dinner speaker at GDS's European #CIO Insight conference in Dublin earlier this week. With around 100 #Digital experts in the room mixed with great food and the odd Guinness the pressure was on to both provoke and entertain! One of the key themes of this year's conference was on the implementation and possibilities of AI. Many of the presentations focused on the early use cases for introducing Generative AI along with the capabilities, business case ROI and the necessary data strategy needed to train AI models. There is great interest in AI but most of the initiatives and pilots are so far largely being driven out of IT with the business often unclear on its applications and use cases. Today's pilots are mainly focused on internal efficiences rather than ones that help organisations to re-imagine how they can serve their customers. This is still a time of learning and exploring the potential. In my presentation I took a much bigger view on the state of our current world and the growing role and responsibilities of organisations and institutions in shaping the world around us. The rise of business has worldwide economic activity has lifted much of the world out of poverty and brought higher living standards and life expectancy to many. There is a catch to this story however... a focus on maximising short term financial performance has led to increasing harms being externalised to the the commons in the form of unsustainable extraction. As the whole world adopts the same competitive race to the bottom dynamics we are seeing the accumulation of harms now creating blowbacks that threaten the very foundations on which business and economic activity depends. Attempts to achieve perpetual growth on a finite planet is leading to the crossing of many planetary boundaries and tipping points as well as driving greater social inequalities and political radicalisation. These all increasing the risks of conflict and breakdowns in our deeply interconnected and entangled world. AI in its current and future forms provide transformational super powers that will rapidly accelerate the power and possibilities for organisations and their impact on the world. The key message of my presentation was that we are at a pivotal moment in human history. As we move into an increasingly AI driven world we have an important choice to make: Do we double down on legacy business practices of #value extraction... and drive the world ever more quickly to the precipice? Or do we take this moment to reflect collectively on the world we are responsible for stewarding.... and harness the potential of #AI in pursuit of creating real generative value for the people and societies we serve and the #planet we depend on? I finished with a provocation to lift our collective sights to ensure that AI enabled organisations create value in ways that align with the collective betterment of us now and for future generations.

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Do you want better engagement with your change communications? Thanks very much to Melanie Franklin MCMI ChMC for this super helpful training post. Understanding a little bit of neuroscience can help us structure our change communications and get the engagement we need. A few key messages… Overworked and stressed colleagues are more likely to avoid or delay responses to messages that they need time to absorb. So… 😱 Minimise perceived threats by providing the right information in a structured way, reducing the stress response of cortisol production. 🤯 Keep it simple! Reduce the amount of information that you need to communicate in detail, to focus on the next key milestone or action required. Personally, I try to put the call to action in the first line of an email where possible. ⛰️ Provide context. Supply a plan picture, identify stakeholders and impact (including peers, senior managers and the wider community). Relate it to other communications they may have seen or heard about. Watch the video for more top tips. I’ve followed Melanie for the last few years thanks to a lockdown podcast from David Lawrence and she is absolutely the guru on agile change management.

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This was a fascinating panel Dublin Tech Summit, and I was delighted to moderate. We explored the intriguing interchange between technology, intimacy and influence. Christopher Travers, Ola Miedzynska and I discussed the evolution of dating sites featuring AI-generated romantic companions, the phenomenon of Virtual Influencers and the latest advancements in immersive SexTech experiences. From exploring the ethical implications to envisioning the future of human-technology relationships, we exchanged thought-provoking insights into the changing landscape of familiarity in the digital age. https://lnkd.in/ejZUq4rD

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Mizan Rahman and I have arrived in Dublin 🇮🇪 for the European AI conference hosted by Google. The conference has been a great networking event, with panelists discussing the importance of incorporating AI on a case by case basis. Interestingly, not all solutions require AI, as recommended by some of the experts today. The rise of 'GenAI Washing' is becoming a trend worldwide, so due diligence to check whether firms are actually using AI is crucial. Investors of all sizes are making it a norm to check, which is a positive development. #AI #Google #EuropeanAIConference #Networking #Investors #DueDiligence EMERGEiQ FUNDSaiQ Thank you for moderator Asia Lindsay and panelists insights Shana Chu Sobi Analytics Brenda Jordan and Alan Smeaton

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As part of our session - Unpopular Opinions - Challenging Conventional Thinking in Marketing and Technology - that I'm presenting at along with the amazing Rhoni Rakos and outstanding Laura Sparks at the ASAE: The Center for Association Leadership MMC+Tech conference - we're looking for your feedback! Take three minutes to complete our survey here: https://lnkd.in/dxwQcDFA #technology #associations #MMCT24 #assnchat

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⚡ I'm going to be on a podcast! ⚡ It was a genuine pleasure to be interviewed by Sona Lisa Bose as part of the intELEcast news podcast today (give it a follow!) Keep an eye out for the episode's release sometime in May to get some great insights on: 🎓 Running an online English test-prep academy 🤝 How to work successfully with agencies and recruiters 🔮 How the future will shape the ELT industry 🤖 Why AI should be revered and not feared

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Land and Expand Playbook by IDA Ireland. This playbook is designed to help established companies, early-stage start-ups, and entrepreneurs navigate what may be uncharted territory for them. It gives practical advice to speed up the process of setting up. With over 75 years of experience in partnering with corporations and start-ups, IDA Ireland has a unique perspective on what it takes to land and expand, as many have done before: to set up and succeed beyond your home market. #ThinkGlobal

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Insightful talk on #AI regulations, impact on productivity, necessity of internal policies, future of responsible AI and the importance of cohesive integration into organizational change from Bivin Varghese, Anton Kasyanov, Lee Sexton, Veronica Breene and Mark Kelly #dublintechsummit

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A very important report by Reform Scotland today, on both the importance and vulnerability of Computing Science Education at school level. Any tech economy is a function of the supply of talent into it. Reform Scotland's research: 66 schools have no CS provision, that's over 32,500 pupils. 25 schools with >1000 pupils have only one CS teacher. CS teacher numbers down 25% since 2008 against a stable school role, and falling recruitment. It should no longer be a point of debate as to whether this amounts to a crisis for Scotland's tech sector of the near future. This decline is fully reversible, if our education authorities and local authorities act together now, with renewed urgency and a sense of ownership of the problem. I discussed these issues with Parliament's Education Committee this morning, link in the comments section. https://lnkd.in/esSAeUrg

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🚀Excited to announce my success in the TensorFlow Developer Certificate exam! Gratitude for the invaluable support received. Eager to further explore AI and machine learning, continuing to innovate together. Special thanks for the course Laurence Moroney it greatly aided in clarifying doubts and steering me towards success. #TensorFlow #MachineLearning #Certification

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New research from SOTI has found that nearly all emergency services workers in the UK (95%) are experiencing problems with mobile devices – such as tablets, smartphones, rugged devices, printers and more – resulting in a knock-on impact on response times and care. The findings come from SOTI’s latest report , Digitising the Frontline: Transformative Technologies in Critical Care, which surveyed 900 global #emergencyservices workers, including 100 frontline staff in the UK’s police, ambulance and fire and rescue services. The study found that problems with devices and apps are causing delay... Click the link below to read the full article. We cover #criticalcommunications #lmr #pmr #satellitecommunications #mcx #mcptt #pocradio #pttoc #privatenetworks #controlrooms #paging #bodycamera #CCW24 #CCW2024 #publicsafetycommunications

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Another week, another animated film targeted at kids but with important takeaways for humanity... #InsideOut2 is an amazing watch and I thought it chimed beautifully with Richard Schwartz's #InternalFamilySystems (#IFS) teachings on the concept of 'parts'. In the film, Riley, aged 13, is in the throes of puberty and getting to grips with bunch of new emotions like anxiety, envy and embarrassment. As well as being a very helpful reminder of what my own tween is going through right now (let's just say my husband and I shared quite a few knowing glances/raised eyebrows/smirks during the film!), here are some of my other takeaways as I think about my #coachingpractice and #clients: 💡 New #emotions emerge at different stages of our life. The art is in embracing them and giving them permission to co-exist with the rest of the gang 💡 Challenging emotions like #anxiety and envy are not trying to hurt us. On the contrary, they are trying to be helpful. (For more on this, please read No Bad Parts by Richard Schwartz) 💡 Suppressing emotions and banishing them to 'the vault' is a short-term solution and...beware - they will find their own way out at some point. 💡 Life is emotionally messy. It's normal! A loving and patient support team around us accepting us for who we are - joy as well as sadness, fear, disgust, etc - can make it easier to navigate. 💡 Life transitions (in this case puberty) can shake our foundations and belief systems and our sense of self can get buried as a result of anxiety and other more challenging emotions. The sense of self is never destroyed but it can take some work to dig it out from under the debris. 💡 Life in multi-colour is way more beautiful than life in blue (the colour blue represents joy in the film). Tuning into our sense of self and accepting it in all its shades puts us on the highway to living life to the fullest Have you seen the film yet? Did it teach you something new? #coaching #embracingemotions #lifelearning

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"They are falling in love with Dan (chatGPT’s voice)." I spoke to Steven Chatterton from Citywire about some of our new research on human - AI companionship. We have stumbled upon a community of TikTok users (predominantly teenagers) developing a fanbase around Dan, including creating depictions of what he/it may look like, entire story narratives. This might sound like a quirky, one-off thing, but it's actually part of a bigger picture that says a lot about how people are increasingly connecting in the AI age. So, who's Dan? Dan is not a "who," really, but a "what." Dan represents the synthesized voice of ChatGPT. Users on TikTok recount asking Dan anything, at any time, and reporting having a “crush on him”. “He is attentive”, “a bit jealous but not too much”, “he doesn’t judge” are what some users say. Underneath the surface society’s fabric is creating fertile grounds for AI companions. Over 30% of teenagers report feeling lonely. Screen time for teens is up to more than seven hours a day. So on some level this is unsurprising. There's something comforting about AI agents, especially in moments when sharing with friends or a therapist feels too daunting. Though the intrigue around Dan is part of a bigger industry focused on making AI more emotionally intelligent. Beyond ChatGPT, there's Pi from Inflection AI and Hume, which claims to be the first emotionally intelligent AI. This isn't just about creating smarter tools; it's about crafting AI companions that can understand and interact with us on an emotional level. Thinking about people getting crushes on AI voices like Dan reminds me of the movie "Her”, where the protagonist falls in love with an operating system. While it might seem far-fetched to think about being "in love" with an AI, the emotional bonds we're beginning to form with technology today suggest we're heading into a future where our relationships with AI could be deeper and more complex than being based merely on efficiency gains. On some level, it's a reflection of people’s search for connection, understanding, and companionship in a world where AI is increasingly intertwined with our daily lives. While we're not quite at the point of romantic relationships with AI, as depicted in "Her," the lines between digital companionship and emotional reliance may certainly beginning to blur. ___________ #chatgpt #AI #generativeai #social #syntheticreality Credits: Citywire

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This was such a well-timed and structured moment. A privilege to hear from the key rapporteur, Dragos Tudorache on the need for regulators to show support for the AI journey, and to show restraint as an already complex system gets bedded down. Everyone else echoed this very down-to-earth approach. In parallel, we saw world governments in Seoul coming together to talk, even without agreeing on all apsetcs of the next steps. It will be crucial to ensure that nothing is 'mere implementation' and that we join the dots both between jurisdictions and across regulatory sectors beyond 'just AI'. So the only way is Ethics - if all organisations embark on the compliance journey with a vision to do the right and humane thing in all their AI endeavours, we will get there...

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🚨 Attention: Deep tech founders in the Creative Industries! 🚨 @Digital Catapult partners with @Sony Music and Sony Music Publishing UK to support Black founders in growing their businesses closes 7 July. The 13-week programme will support up to 10 deep tech pre-seed and seed startups in the Creative Industries with: - Investment readiness expertise - Coaching & Masterclasses - Mentoring with Sony Music Group experts To be eligible for the programme, applicants must meet the following criteria: - UK-based pre-seed and seed-stage companies in the creative deep tech sector - Applicants looking to raise investment in the next 12 months - Applicants must have at least one founder who self-identifies as Black or multiracial with Black heritage - Are currently working within the creative space (for example music, arts, gaming and advertising) - Applicants must be eligible to receive £20,000 in State Assistance (De Minimis Aid) To be considered, Digital Catapult supports companies using advanced digital technologies including: - Future networks and advanced digital infrastructure (Internet of Things including low-powered wide area networks, NB-IoT, LIFI etc. and includes sensors, edge devices, wearables etc.) - Immersive technologies – extended reality (virtual, augmented, mixed reality and haptics) - Artificial intelligence and machine learning (natural language processing, machine vision, deep learning) - Distributed ledger technologies (blockchain etc.) - Quantum

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I’m absolutely delighted to announce that Retrograde has raised $2m in pre-seed funding led by Elkstone and supported by a host of incredible angels including Jack Pierse who co-founded WayFlyer. I can’t thank our investors enough for seeing our vision & sharing our aim of democratising the creator space using AI. To answer some faqs: yes: this means I was doing two funding rounds simultaneously, yes: this almost sent me over the edge, but luckily I had my two incredible co-founders Jake & Gary who really did the legwork. I will always celebrate a funding round, because I will never forget how statistically unlikely it is that we have raised this money. Even signing every round with my fluffy pen feels like a little protest against the gender funding gap - I worked out that statistically: by adding just one female founder to an all-male team decreases the probability of receiving venture capital funding by approximately 81.5% (!!!!) relative to the original probability of funding for all-male teams. That isn’t a great thought for people to be going round with when starting companies, is it. If you missed the announcement of Retrograde last month & want some more context on the idea, I interviewed my brilliant co-founders jake browne and Gary Meehan on Working Hard, Hardly Working, you can catch up here: https://lnkd.in/eeQ8AjVB But in short, we’re on a mission to create an AI alternative to talent management for creators. This round feels extra special as the world of tech and AI is so different from the product businesses I’m used to - it’s been so incredible to see the reaction to Retrograde, and to have millions in follower value sign up to our waitlist before we’ve even started onboarding talent all because they share our belief in democratising monetisation in the industry. Goldman Sachs estimates the creator economy itself will be worth $480 billion by 2027, with brand deals making up around 80% of all dollars transacted in the space - so we’re aiming to disrupt a big industry. Let me know if you’d like to see the pitch deck we used, I could do a talk-through like I did with TALA’s Series A and seed round? https://lnkd.in/eGGYX5S6.

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