I've a new essay this morning in The Future of Work. Here's what it covers; 🚨 Widespread work dissatisfaction — Most people are disengaged from their jobs, working as a means to an end rather than finding meaning in it. Gallup data shows engagement falling to 21% globally. 🚨 Extrinsic factors destroy motivation — Even when people love their actual work, toxicworkplace dynamics (passive aggression, poor leadership, micro-aggressions) erode their wellbeing. 🚨 Technology pervasive influence — Tech now shapes cognition, identity, and daily life. Younger generations are technologically native yet risk cognitive deficiency; older generations struggle to adapt. 🚨Corporate interests drive AI development — The AIrace is about market dominance, not social benefit. Governments are losing regulatory power (e.g., EU watering down the AIAct). The "deploy first, fix later" approach carries unprecedented risk because even AI creators don't fully understand how these systems learn. 🚨Graeber's bullshitjobs thesis — Many jobs exist for moral and political reasons rather than genuine productivity. The system keeps people too busy to question their exploitation. 🚨AI as both threat and opportunity — Workers can either be displaced by AI or use it to escape meaningless work and take control of their own labour. The latter requires proactive learning. 🚨 Unpredictable exponential change — Unlike past technological shifts (e.g., aluminium kegs replacing coopers), AI's effects will be broad and systemic, not confined to single trades. 🚨 The meaning crisis — Work has shifted from vocational to transactional. People derive identity and worth from jobs, yet organisations treat them as expendable. Without meaningful work, the question becomes: what do people do? Chomsky said, satisfaction comes from doing useful, community-connected work. Modern workplaces have stripped this intrinsic value, prioritising profit over purpose. 🧠 Subscribe to The Future of Work on LinkedIn https://lnkd.in/erFzkZ9u

I have found myself in recent times, working at the intersection of artificial intelligence and people at work. Some people and organisations are apprehensive about AI tools for fear of privacy and confidentiality - and rightly so. Others are going for it, insisting that project managers, for example, adopt AI in their work to save time and create efficiencies. No new hires will be sanctioned, so if you want a project completed on time and budget, utilise AI. Ok, AI can help, sure. The problem is that there is a risk of forcing AI tool usage without proper due diligence or planning. With this, there are potential cognitive costs to critical thinking and decision making. In today's article, I'm discussing this phenomena and drawing on research findings from a study by Micheal Gerlich earlier this year. Key findings: 🚨 Younger users showed higher AI dependence and lower critical thinking 🚨 Higher education correlated with better critical thinking regardless of AI use 🚨 Trust in AI tools increases offloading, which erodes analytical skills over time 🚨 Long-term reliance weakens memory retention, problem-solving, and independent thought Check out today's article Slán for now 👋 Larry 📅 BTW... if you're interested in learning how to adopt AI in the workplace without losing your critical thinking skills, register for the AI Workshop this Friday 5th December 11:00am GMT (it will be recorded)