AI is the ominous presence of this century. Artificial Intelligence, looming over us like Frankenstein’s monster. While some fear that our future is in the Matrix, others hope for more of an “I, Robot” version. With three highly principled laws that protect all that is human from any possible harm (including emotional harm). Elon Musk would have you believe we’re already living in a simulation.

The fascination with AI often lingers in our minds because the possibilities seem endless. And various implementations of AI are becoming more and more affordable. Startups can already use AI to play around and figure new ways to boost productivity.

Ultimately, we can only hope that our own silly misappropriation of tech will lead AI to entertainment. And not the obliteration of the human species. Or maybe we can hope for better.

But until then, boosting productivity with AI is one thing we can do. Yet, even this is tricky. 2017 is the year both Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates warn that the job landscape will drastically change. That many occupations will be rendered obsolete. And that the current income inequality will further gap to unprecedented values.

Leaving aside all these hard topics, there’s one clear thing about AI today. It can significantly boost your productivity. Here’s how.

AI and the management of interruptions

Billions in productivity are lost every year due to unnecessary interruptions. Yes, that time Steve from accounting instant messaged you “What’s up“. That moment you lost track of a mental process aimed at shaping information into knowledge. And transforming knowledge into higher-value knowledge. Because, as you have it, that’s what knowledge workers do. You then spent the next 10-20 minutes trying to reinvent the wheel. Likely you found a solution. Was it the best? Second best?

Interruptions at work are the opposite of Newton’s apple. You get hit in the head and lose that one precious thought. And humanity will never experience your perfect blend of digital marketing.

Aside from Steve, there are myriad other ways to get interrupted. Phones, social media, emails. If only you could decide which ones are relevant. And which ones are not. All without wasting any time or losing focus. Ah, perhaps you could organize email filters.

But here’s the issue. Sometimes, especially when you’re in the flow, all communications are a nuisance.

Enter AI. An instant communication platform like Hubgets uses AI algorithms to keep you in a productive state. For instance, it automatically detects when you’re not to be disturbed, and puts any distractions on hold, i.e. phone calls, pop-up notifications. You’re not missing out on anything, because Hubgets keeps tracks of all communication events that occur while you’re working so you can reply, react or call back later.

Besides helping you gain more work time, Hubgets also relieves you from the frustration of being constantly interrupted and lets you focus on your priorities.

AI can help you feel better

Alas, the optimized micro-management we all dreamed of. No, not because of what Elon Musk tries to do with Neuralink. There is no machine learning about you and your emotions from within.

In fact, we are pretty bad at dealing with out emotions anyway and this also affects our productivity.

Being human in this day and age is a novel experience for our species. We get to live longer than ever, and experience more than ever. There is a great deal of stress and excitement buzzing. And there are many things we are not equipped for.

Depression and mental illness, feeling abused or overworked, or even simply tired. All these are issues that might not come across that easily to your teammates. Imagine AI knowing how you feel and how your team feels. And imagine the possibilities of rational and emotional management.

Hubgets computes a happiness index for the entire team, based on people’s mood and the way they communicate. Such information is extremely precious in growing thriving teams. For example, management can further investigate on the causes of frustration and adjust internal strategies. All for a positive and productive work environment.

Maybe the future of AI and humanity will be more like DATA from Star Trek. Maybe there is little to fear from the rise of the machines. After all, aren’t humans just self-replicating survival machines with a passion for bacon? They are. So let’s enjoy what we can for now.

This text was generated by a neural network loaded with coffee and baked bread in ~ 0.(3) nights. Just joking 🙂