Rebranding and Reinventing

Hello There:

Welcome to the new brand. Taking a cue from that old English rhyme, here’s something old, something new, something borrowed, and even something blue! 😁

The old element is “Uber,” part of the title of my last book, which has stuck for obvious reasons. Something borrowed is Toolhacker, which will remain a separate resource for leading-edge AI technology. Despite a massive rebranding effort, there is much that is new:

Generative AI White Paper

On May 1, we achieved a significant milestone with the release of a white paper, “Generative AI — Navigating the Artificial Intelligence Revolution.” This comprehensive document is a testament to our dedication to advancing AI. Get your free copy and delve into the future of AI.

Redesigned Website

The new brand resides at Ubertrends.com, which will be the main blog/speaking site.

Thank you,
Michael

Change Readiness

Seven years ago, the top trending topic on LinkedIn was “change readiness.” Given the disruptions that lie ahead, it’s amazing that this topic hasn’t remained top of mind.

The most significant upheaval facing society is the future of work. “Generative AI” provides a detailed recap of studies on AI’s employment impact but here are some updates:

• Upwork – The Wall Street Journal reports that freelance jobs on Upwork that require basic writing, coding or translation are disappearing. Yet, “Generative AI” also reports that Upwork jobs related to developing chatbots have exploded by 2,000% since ChatGPT and the OpenAl API were released. These data points are significant because we are transitioning to a gig worker economy, with 38% of Americans engaging in freelance work in 2022.

• Skill half-life – According to workplace training platform Workera, the half-life of skills, the metric that estimates how long, on average, a skill may be useful in someone’s career, has been cut in half, from 10 years to under five.

As we reported in “Generative AI,” the biggest job impact will be felt in these market segments:

• Professional/managerial – Individuals in technical and supervisory roles are most exposed to artificial intelligence, particularly men, white and Asian-American workers, and mid-career professionals.

• Technology – AI technology is strongly supported by the tech industry, which is hardly surprising. That makes high-tech workers in such cities as Seattle and Salt Lake City more vulnerable than workers in smaller, more rural communities. The Crunchbase Tech Layoffs Tracker reports that more than 191,000 workers at U.S.-based tech companies were laid off in mass job cuts in 2023, and the layoffs continue in 2024.

The goal for non-technical AI specialists is to join the AI-ready workforce, which Workera CEO Kian Katanforoosh has dubbed “AI+X.” Individuals with extensive subject matter knowledge in particular fields, including media, supply chain, or finance, who use AI techniques to tackle challenges are best positioned to do so.

Most future-of-work studies suggest that anywhere from 19% to 44% of the workforce will be “affected” or “exposed” due to the impact of generative AI.

While the prevailing argument against a doomsday scenario is that current AI technology is just not good enough, our Toolhacker round-up below demonstrates that AI tools are evolving at breakneck speed.

Change readiness is part of my repertoire, as this new speaking video attests:

One thing most entrepreneurs lack is patience. That virtue is apparently readily found in digital marketing. It’s dumbfounding to see how few of the 11,038 digital marketing “solutions” have pivoted to embrace AI fully.

Newcomers Olly.social, Pathmonk and WaxWing have thus far been underwhelming.

SMB AI apps have also seen little action. That’s no surprise, given the sector’s domination by “scalable, end-to-end enterprise B.S.” startups. However, Rockville, MD-based Enso Technologies Inc. may have the answer, although its Enso pricing model is flawed. No small business owner is going to fork over $217 each month for three typical modules — in this instance, Google Ranker, TikTok Manager, and Email Sales Rep — unless they work terrifically.

Our challenge to build a custom chatbot continues. However, there are many changes in our development stack, including a new front-end tool from Mountain View-based FlutterFlow Inc., which, naturally, boasts an AI, AIGen:

We are also very impressed with San Francisco-based BuildShip, which boasts AI capabilities and was designed specifically for creating AI-based solutions. Both BuildShip and FlutterFlow are diverse startups featuring female and black founders.

😁🤔