Information as a Weapon

There are many important subjects and debates worth considering today including the merits of globalization, economic systems, freedom, equality, personal dignity, pluralism, human rights, politics, morality, peace and our future.  All of these important discussions are informed by information.  As such, how to find, capture, validate, weigh and authenticate information is critical to our societies' futures.

Just today, I read how TikTok has stopped information from outside of Russia from being viewed by Russian users.  That means Russian users get only a one-sided, Russian view of the war in Ukraine.  A biased, one-sided view does not support rational, balanced perspectives and objective decision-making.  The same challenge arises if any of us limit our news and information to only one perspective.

My wife insists on reading news from a wide variety of sources, even sources she most often disagrees with.  I hear her grumbling when she reads, but she adamantly defends the need to include a plethora of viewpoints in order to gain perspective.  She is a wise lady.

The Battle for the Future of Information Logistics

It is well known today that psychographic profiling of us humans, combined with social engineering strategies are effective at influencing our thinking.  Our brains are vulnerable to all kinds of external and internal influences.  Given this knowledge today, there is a keen sense of urgency to monitor and control information logistics, the movement of information around the world, and the massive quantity of influential information that can be targeted at each one of us.  

Let's quickly review the history of psychographic profiling and its partnering with social engineering strategies before continuing our discussion of information logistics.  In the 1960s psychographic researchers began studying how to understand consumers and their behaviors at a deeper level based on personality traits, emotional triggers, interests, needs, values and attitudes, etc.  A few decades later these findings were dusted off and combined with neuromarketing (the measurement of physiological and neural signals to gain insight into customers' motivations, preferences, and decision) to study how various advertisements and political messages impacted people with different psychological or psychographic profiles.  

The Humanity in Killer Robots

Us humans are strange creatures.  Drones, which are like robots with wings that fly above a war zone waiting to pounce on an enemy like a hawk seem to be clever to us, but not if they walk upon the ground.  If they walk - that crosses some kind of line in the sand that we find intolerable.  Why is one clever, and the other unacceptable?  

I wish for only peace and happiness, but understanding how humans interact with machines is going to be an increasingly important area of study.

The following video clip is a parody of robots being trained by humans to be killer robots.  Look for the humanity in this clip.

Thoughts?

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Kevin Benedict

Partner | Futurist at TCS

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***Full Disclosure: These are my personal opinions. No company is silly enough to claim them. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles.

The Past, Present and Future of the Digital Workplace with Expert Ashok Krish

Our guest in this episode is digital workplace expert Ashok Krish, Global Head of the Digital Workplace at TCS.  He shares his pandemic experiences and those of other large companies.  We learn what best practices look like today, and where they are heading in the future.

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Kevin Benedict

Partner | Futurist at TCS

View my profile on LinkedIn

Follow me on Twitter @krbenedict

Join the Linkedin Group Digital Intelligence

***Full Disclosure: These are my personal opinions. No company is silly enough to claim them. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles.

The Future of Alternate Realities

Do you live in an alternate reality?  That's a hard question to answer, because often people that do - don't know it.  This is, however, a question worth asking.  There are growing numbers of sophisticated social engineering campaigns that are being directed at our brains by all kinds of different organizations.  These aren't your grandparents' marketing campaigns, these are highly targeted to influence your way of thinking about reality.

In addition to social engineering campaigns, there are now technologies being developed for the next generation of the internet, web 3.0, that can deliver intense and immersive 3D experiences that will potentially offer up a wide range of different realities for us to consume - some nefarious and some innocent.  We must all educate ourselves on these and be aware.  The more senses that are exposed to nefarious influencers, the more power they have to alter our reality and belief systems.

The Power of Experience with Expert Bruce Temkin

In this episode, I have the joy of talking to the brilliant experience management expert, Bruce Temkin.  He is the Head of Qualtric's XM institute, and shares his latest thoughts on how experience management is evolving.  We also take a deep dive into the impact of the pandemic on remote workforces, explore the six universal laws of experience management, and the future of remote work.  

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Kevin Benedict

Partner | Futurist at TCS

View my profile on LinkedIn

Follow me on Twitter @krbenedict

Join the Linkedin Group Digital Intelligence

***Full Disclosure: These are my personal opinions. No company is silly enough to claim them. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles.

Bombing Your Own Business and Values Statements

Most businesses of significance today publish a values statement.  The French department store Leroy Merlin, as one would expect from a company with 22,000 employees, published their latest on January 15, 2020.  Their value statement follows, "We share six values ​​that we embody on a daily basis: trust, respect, autonomy, commitment, proximity and audacity.  More than words...they define who we are."

Leroy Merlin After Missile Attack

I would suggest that actions, rather than words are what truly defines an organization.  I read on Forbes.com today that Leroy Merlin "became the first company in the world to finance the bombing of its own stores [in Ukraine]." How?  They had refused to stop operating in Russia even when their competitors withdrew in protest against the invasion of the Ukraine.  It seems Leroy Merlin see the war and international sanctions as a growth and money making opportunity for themselves in Russia. Their strategy now helps fund Russia's unconscionable war against the Ukraine. Hoping not to lose any money making opportunities, Leroy Merlin also continues to operate in the Ukraine.  They've got both sides covered. 

Food Equity, the Pandemic, and the Future of Public Health with expert Smriti Kirubanandan

My guest in this episode is Smriti Kirubanandan, a multi-talented computer scientist, robotics and public health expert, and a Certified Raw Vegan Chef and Nutritionist.  We take a deep dive into public health issues, the impact of disinformation, and the role of food equity.

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Kevin Benedict

Partner | Futurist at TCS

View my profile on LinkedIn

Follow me on Twitter @krbenedict

Join the Linkedin Group Digital Intelligence

***Full Disclosure: These are my personal opinions. No company is silly enough to claim them. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles.

Business Isn't Always about Business

We live and die in a transparent and networked world.  A world that is one invasion and/or viral video away from completely changing the market and business climate for a company.  In 2020 I wrote an article titled, Swarming and the Need for a Chief Values Officer, where I stated,  "The key to winning in a network of swarming consumers is to strategically be swarmed for good reasons.  It’s about being recognized for the societal good your organization is doing as demonstrated by purpose-driven advocacy and practiced values."  Today, under the dark clouds of war and senseless violence, it is all the more important to be recognized for your "practiced values."

In just the first two weeks of Russia's unconscionable invasion and continuing attack on Ukraine, over 300 large multinational companies announced they were restricting business and pulling out of Russia.  The companies that are still doing business with Russia will increasingly be shamed by their customers, employees, shareholders and history. 

Will Force Win Wills?

Technology is giving life the potential to flourish like never before - or to self-destruct. ~ Future of Life Institute 

As Russian military forces invaded the Ukraine in an unconscionable act of violence and devastation, their armies of social media operators joined in and were deployed to the internet to digitally influence the opinions and will of the world watching in horror.  The goal of these operators was to influence their own people to support their aggressions through disinformation, while demoralizing their adversaries, and confusing a worldwide audience with disinformation to prevent them from acting or interfering.

Kyle Chayka recently wrote in the New Yorker, “the invasion of Ukraine is by no means the first conflict to play out over social media, but it is perhaps the first war to be mediated primarily by content creators and live-streamers rather than by traditional news organizations.”  Because social media operators are now the major source of news for many if not most, this has become a hugely important and strategic digital battlefield.