Singular XQ

Farzin, a fan of crazy robot fighting movies and watching Total Recall with his grandma, is an organizational justice practicioner. He and JP talk about why it is different than DEI and moves beyond performative tokenism and empty gesture toward more equitable and democratic organizational cultures. A great complement to the Angela Harris episode where we explore how ERGs sometimes create the exact opposite of their stated intent. Farzin brings a new perspective to a thorny issue: how do we move beyond the empty promise of "representation" to authentically arriving at work and enjoying the fruit of our own labor from our unique identities? You can connect with Farzin and find more information about his consulting practice at https://www.linkedin.com/in/farzinfarzad/

In this conversation, JP discusses various topics including his personal life, the challenges faced by his organization, and the importance of taxonomy in AI. He also explores different categories of AI, such as narrow AI, general AI, super intelligence, natural language processing, computer vision, robotics, expert systems, hybrid intelligence, cognitive computing, machine learning, deep learning, reinforcement learning, and swarm intelligence. JP emphasizes the need for accurate information and public outcry to address the consolidation of power and capital in technology.

In this episode, Scott Chernoff the voice of Gearhead on Rick and Morty joins the podcast to bring his unique perspective as a comedy creative to Aaron and JP's discussion of episode 6.

This conversation is pretty wild. The conversation touches on topics such the importance of doing work for passion, the challenges of being a founder in the tech industry, and why computer programming and Satanism seem to overlap (it's not what you think.) They also talk about of "copy left," the ethics of using other people's work in programming, and the problem of the exploitation of minors in both the tech industry and Hollywood. It wouldn't be complete without talking about AI and autonomous vehicles and voting for the "maximum viable performance" in the episode, with SXQD2 weighing in on the final vote.

JP and Bob Goodman discuss the importance of learning cultures, cross-functionality, psychological safety, and human-centered design in driving innovation. They also touch on the evolving role of UX in the technology industry and offer advice for UX professionals navigating the current landscape.

The Humans of Singular XQ presents the lovely and irreplaceable Archana Shah, founding Core Advisory Board team member, brilliant technology researcher, and certified good human. Archana and I explore how my roots with anthropology compare to her recent encounter with a tech anthropology conference she attended and we also talk about her history with developing Singular XQ and what she thinks about where we are going next.

Do you know what a dramaturge is?

In this week's episode recurring co-host Aaron Beavers and JP chat with dramaturge and full professor Jane Barnette about episode 5 in Season 1 with a controversial mural that even makes Aaron uncomfortable. Dr. Barnette does not hestiate to dive in with her analysis.
Dr. Barnette is head of the dramaturgy program at University of Kansas. She, JP, and Aaron had a lot of fun talking about this episode and about what was going on in tech the day this episode was released--sneak peak, it was the day that Meta purchased Oculus VR from Palmer Luckey.

One of the suprise benefits of this series is getting a really interesting timeline for the prologue of events that occurred before the explosion of compression algorithms we are now living through.
Oh Pied Piper, if you could only see what is happening now...
Also check out Dr. Barnette's new book called Witch Fulfillment.
We are sorry to say that the captions and video failed for this episode. We will publish the transcript on Patreon. We apologize--it happened due to problems with our platform partner. We strive to be accessible with all we do.

00:00Introduction and Discussion on Dramaturgy
03:26Analyzing the Racial Complications in Silicon Valley
08:06The Confrontation: Peter Gregory vs. Gavin Belson
08:28The Emotional Labor of Monica
37:17Competition and Betrayal
38:54The Pressure of Live Demos
41:35Race and Ethnicity in Silicon Valley
43:43Manipulation and Hype Cycles in Tech
50:13The Controversial Painting on the Garage Door
59:18Christopher Evan Welch's Standout Performance

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Are ERGs helping or masking organizational problems that have to be addressed with more urgency? Angela V. Harris delivers a provocative interview with JP on the importance of addressing racial and gender inequity in organizations.

The Humans of Singular XQ is a regular series on the Singular XQ podcast where we highlight the members of our Knowledge Capital Index, unicorn professionals with areas of valuable expertise in engineering, research, design, and executive leadership. This week's episode is Dr. Rebecca Grier a Human Factors Engineer. She and JP chat about how to maximally improve the traction research has in organizations that need to be informed by research but struggle with how to leverage it.

Do you remember Dorian Nakamoto?

Dorian Nakamoto was a person Newsweek mistakenly outed as the the Nakamoto who founded Bitcoin. It turned out they were wrong and he sued. That and a bunch of tornadoes were in the new in 2014 the week this episode aired. In this installment we have special guest Dr. Heather Roff , an expert on ethics, law, and policy when it comes to AI and autonomous systems. She hangs out with JP, Aaron, and Luis and they chat about the content of the episode, their own thoughts about Silicon Valley culture and the eerie prescience and spot on accuracy of some of the details of the episode, including what JP calls the "catch and release" strategy of emerging tech.

Why do so many big tech companies hire talented and skilled workers and then put them on hold?

The one where JP talks to Dr. Manhaes about how organizations tend to treat designers the way they treat employes who identify as female.