Work, being, and the human future
Essays on AI, judgment, and what it means to stay human as work transforms.

Polymathic

Essays, notes, and experiments — mostly about work, AI, and how to be a better human in the middle of all of it.

Branding requires a philosopher

Good branding establishes an understanding of the essence of a company. Just as a writer’s characterization allows the reader to grasp the true nature of an individual—whether fictional or nonfictional—the brander must discern and articulate the company’s fundamental identity. This identity, once understood, serves as a touchstone for all future branding efforts.

A well-defined brand becomes the foundation upon which all company materials, designs, and operations are built. It provides coherence and direction, ensuring that every action and representation aligns with the company’s core nature. …

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Academic Marketing: The Overlooked Imperative

Marketing is a dominant force in nearly every industry, shaping consumer behavior, driving engagement, and defining brand perception. Yet, in academia, marketing remains an underdeveloped and often misunderstood function. Institutions market themselves, albeit indirectly, but rarely do they engage in the kind of targeted, strategic marketing seen in the corporate world. Academic marketing is not simply another term for college marketing, which often refers to promotional efforts directed at students through non-traditional tactics like on-campus events and giveaways. Nor is it limited to … read more >

Branding and Human Cognition

We are essentializing beings. That is, our way of knowing the world tends heavily towards looking for the essential, the typical, and the regular. We tend to see the general, the core, the one single “thing” that summarizes, encapsulates, or explains what we’re looking at.

And this is the core thought behind the importance of branding.

This post will discuss something that is at the heart of everything we do as human beings. It also shows why we have marketing and branding companies at all. Finally, it shows why I love this business so much.

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Bookmark: OpenAI's ‘Deep Research’ Can Actually Make Professional Reports With Citations

A standout quote from the article is: According to OpenAI, “deep research was rated by domain experts to have automated multiple hours of difficult, manual investigation”> OpenAI’s ‘Deep Research’ Can Actually Make Professional Reports With Citations

OpenAI’s new feature, Deep Research, embedded within its ChatGPT, showcases the company’s advancements in autonomous AI functionalities. Targeting professionals within science, finance, engineering, and policy, this tool produces comprehensive reports akin to those crafted by research analysts. Operative through …

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Bookmark: How OpenAI's new ChatGPT agent can do the research for you - access it here

How OpenAI’s new ChatGPT agent can do the research for you - access it here

OpenAI’s introduction of the Deep Research agent in ChatGPT marks a significant advancement in AI capabilities, offering users a tool that can autonomously conduct comprehensive research. This feature, powered by an optimized version of OpenAI’s o3 model, excels in multi-step research processes by gathering and synthesizing information from the web into detailed reports in a matter of minutes, a task conventionally demanding hours from a human researcher. Deep Research is particularly beneficial for …

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Bookmark: Why tomorrow’s breakthroughs will come from polyintelligent thinking

“Nature is far more intelligent than we humans have ever understood.”
Why tomorrow’s breakthroughs will come from polyintelligent thinking

The future of innovation hinges on polyintelligent thinking, which integrates three key intelligences: human, artificial, and nature’s intelligence. This approach moves beyond the current focus on human and AI fusions, embracing the adaptive and insightful patterns in nature as identified by luminaries like Leonardo da Vinci. Da Vinci’s work reflected an understanding that nature’s intelligence, seen in systems such as plant …

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Bookmark: Dell’s CEO, Michael Dell, Requires Full In-Office Work Starting From March

One notable quote from the article is: “Michael Dell said that in-person teamwork is important because quick talks can replace long email chains.” This highlights the company’s perspective on the efficiency of face-to-face interaction> Dell’s CEO, Michael Dell, Requires Full In-Office Work Starting From March

Starting in March, Dell will mandate full in-office work on all weekdays, bringing a close to remote operations for most of its workforce. CEO Michael Dell communicated this transition, requiring employees near office locations to attend daily, with remote work …

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Bookmark: How leading universities are preparing the future workforce with digital and human skills

“With over 5,800 university courses on Coursera, they now make up more than 60% of the entire catalog and accumulated over 24 million enrollments in 2024 alone.”
How leading universities are preparing the future workforce with digital and human skills

Leading universities are increasingly preparing the future workforce by integrating digital and human skills into their curricula. With online enrollment growing faster than on-campus programs across many U.S. institutions, universities are expanding their offerings on platforms like Coursera. In 2024, nine additional universities, …

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Bookmark: Goodbye digital transformation, hello AI-first business transformation

A fitting quote from the article is: “AI is pushing for reinvention, innovation, and the exploration of the art of the possible.”
Goodbye digital transformation, hello AI-first business transformation

The article discusses the transition from digital transformation to AI-first business transformation. It argues that the digital transformation approach primarily focused on digitalizing existing models rather than fundamentally transforming business paradigms. Many companies digitized legacy processes, which led to complexity and silos rather than true transformation. The emergence …

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Bookmark: ‘The Black Swan’ author warns future selloffs could be 2-3 times worse than the DeepSeek shock as it reveals how fragile the economy is

“This is the beginning. The beginning of an adjustment of people to reality.” - Nassim Taleb
‘The Black Swan’ author warns future selloffs could be 2-3 times worse than the DeepSeek shock as it reveals how fragile the economy is

Nassim Taleb, author of “The Black Swan,” has warned of potential market instability following the significant stock downturn experienced by Nvidia. This came amidst concerns over DeepSeek’s new AI offering, which operates at significantly reduced costs compared to rivals. Nvidia’s stock declined by 17%, eradicating $589 billion in …

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