Ferry Hoes Audio

This is the audio version of the blog: "The Importance of Ethics in Artificial Intelligence" by Ferry Hoes.

“Just because we can, doesn’t mean we should” could be something to keep in mind when it comes to innovating with technology. The arrival of The Internet has 10x’d the speed of innovation and allows us to pretty much create anything we can think of. Artificial Intelligence is a great example of a space in which we can build whatever we like and then some, but should we?

Click here for the written version

You see, AI (Artificial Intelligence) is just as its name makes you suspect….intelligence, but artificial. But instead of “it” already being super intelligent, it’s actually pretty darn stupid on itself. The only thing that makes it smart or intelligent is the fact that, once it’s fed with the right information, there is potentially no stopping it.

If you want to have an unfair advantage against your competitors, co-workers and the work environment for the next 70 years, make sure you train your soft skills! 

This is the audio version of the blog "Don't let Grandmother Talk to the Robots" which can be found on Medium.

Earlier this year I was asked to give a Keynote on the topic of Brand Humanizing, robotization, and AI. The hosts had given it the title: “Help, the robots are coming!” and wanted me to explain if technology were to become a threat or an aid. My opening statement was: “Give me 20 minutes and I’ll transform the title into ‘the robots are coming to help’ and eliminate all fear”. So there I was, talking about the main benefits of technology taking over processes and, from a Brand Humanizing perspective, how people would become more human and interact more. One of my main arguments of the latter was that people, unlike robots, are able to connect with other humans and have genuine conversations.

 During my morning walk to the gym, I got to thinking about everything that’s going on for me right now. Change by the Week, Second Leap (my agency) and a couple of projects I’m working on. While walking, I was listening to some Podcasts that got me thinking about the reasons why I do things. A bunch of successful entrepreneurs talked about how they envisioned the end game and how that led them to do certain projects or make specific choices. Most of all, having a clear end goal allows you to check if what you’re doing right now contributes to that goal. This week was all about me starting to find the right mindset to find out why I do what I do and where it should be leading to.

Main goal: Finding my obsession / end goal and how to get there

 After changing my morning routine in the previous week, I quickly noticed that it affected more than just the time I’d get out of bed. Because I now got op earlier, my body would crave food sooner. Besides, not only did I get up earlier, I also moved my workout from evening to morning, so I would have to both change WHEN I eat and WHAT I eat. This week was all about optimizing my breakfast both pre- and post workout.

Main goal: Finding the right pre-workout meal (energy) en post-workout meal (recovering)

Before you listen to this, I would like to state 2 things:

1) Everything below is based on my personal needs, activities and calculation

2) Nutrition is key for everyone, no matter if/how/when you workout, please eat healthily

 Change by the Week Episode #1 - Creating more family time

The first change I’m making is immediately a very big one. Actually it’s the reason why I’ve started this entire project: making changes in order to seek my ultimate happiness. One of the things in life that give me the most pleasure is spending time with loved ones. My life is fairly busy: I run my own company, spend about an hour commuting daily and I workout at my local gym at least four nights a week. All and all my “time-at-home” is at a bare minimum, to great disappointment to my spouse and myself. I want to create more time together and seen as I cannot add hours to the day, I need to change how I spend those hours.

Main goal: Creating more time at home for family time and relaxation from work.

Denk buiten je referentiekader. Je hoeft niet alleen dingen te doen die direct geld opleveren of bijdragen aan je functie binnen een bedrijf. Wat gebeurt met je legacy als het bedrijf verdwijnt? 

Toen ik bij één van mijn werkgevers wegging zeiden ze in een exit gesprek: "Houdt er rekening mee dat je nergens zo goed gaat verdienen als dat je hier doet".

Ze deden daarbij de aanname dat het geld was waarvoor ik ooit naar de organisatie was gekomen, terwijl ik juist voor de inhoud van de functie en de reputatie van het bedrijf kwam.

De wereld om ons heen doet geloven dat je succesvol bent met een miljoen euro op de bank, een paar dikke auto's of een reeks goedlopende bedrijven op je naam. De waarheid is echter ander. Wat succes is, bepaal je helemaal zelf. Daar hoeft geen financiële doelstelling of materialisme aan vast te kleven. Jij bepaalt zelf wat voor jou succesvol is!