The buzzword du jour in technology circles these days is artificial intelligence. The definitionsfor this wundertechnologie are a bit muddled: Is a machine that teaches itself truly intelligent,or just a smart machine that learns?
However the applications are multitudinous and varied, everything from Alexa to travel booking tools that can predict your next trip.
There is another kind of intelligence of course — the native, human kind — that many fear is at risk of being run over in the stampede to embrace the machine. But despite the gloom-and-doom headlines to the contrary, in the world of business, people intelligence is still the key factor that drives the enterprise. After all, human ingenuity has been the wellspring of innovation, and it looks like it will be for the foreseeable future.
The problem is, machines are designed to perform more or less as expected. Yes, there are those inexplicably dead car batteries in winter and computer blue-screens-of-death, and autocorrect can come up with some hysterical bloopers. But by and large what comes out of the box is what you thought you’d get.
It’s harder to predict how humans will perform – especially when their jobs are in the realm of creativity and innovation. But for businesses that rely on human imagination to thrive in a world of constant technological change, it’s key to get the right people behind the right projects and empower them to discover.
Once again, technology rides to the rescue. The University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia, has launched the world’s first Future Minds Lab. The purpose-built research and applied laboratory intends to use cutting-edge neuroscience to understand the creative mind. The research team of 20 scientists, designers and psychologists based at UNSW Psychology will study the fundamental brain science and psychology behind innovation.
Partnering with industry, the new UNSW project will produce “products and services to improve the way institutions and businesses approach different forms of innovation,” according to a statement.
“Our mission is to harness everything we know about neuroscience and psychology to understand and boost innovation,” according to Professor Joel Pearson, founder and director based at UNSW Science. “Using fundamental research and development, our team is creating products and programs to ensure workplaces and businesses are more resilient and better equipped to adapt to constant technological change.”
The Future of Future Minds
The 3,200-square-foot lab includes such sci-fi-sounding equipage as virtual reality rooms, testing stations, brain stimulation devices and neuroimaging tech. The research done here is destined to develop products such as tests that measure traits and abilities like creativity, resilience, tolerance for ambiguity, imagination, intuition and leadership.
On the drawing board: Hiring apps and tools backed by science that can measure diverse human traits and abilities. “These measurement tools will leverage the latest machine learning algorithms to assess job candidates’ fit for specific roles and organizations,” reads a statement from Future Minds Lab.
One such tool that’s already in development is called Thinklytic. The platform, designed by Future Minds and innovation consultancy Fusion Labs, combines neuroscience-based games and machine learning to help companies identify which candidates are best suited for certain roles. The Thinklytic platform, according to the research folks at Future Minds, is designed to “reduce the time, inaccuracy and gamble of hiring,” and so thereby “revolutionize the hiring process.”
Other projects in the Future Minds pipeline include a program currently being evaluated that is intended to reduce technological distractions and maximize something called “deep work.” Programs also include developments like psychological interventions to improve leadership skills and conflict management, technology to measure and track human conflict and other services and tools designed to help businesses transform themselves and enhance the future of work.
The premise of the Future Minds Lab is to allay the fears and anxieties of many in theworkforce who are faced with the stress and uncertainty of constant change. “By using cutting-edge neuroscience, we can discover what makes successful founders, teams and companies,” Pearson says.
