Innholdsfortegnelse for November/December 2023 i The European Business Review

AI REGULATION COVER STORY ALGORITHMIC GOVERNANCE: FROM LAW TO ETHICS In a groundbreaking decision that reverberated through June 2023, the European Parliament triggered a transformative era by adopting an all-encompassing legal framework meticulously designed to oversee the intricate tapestry of artificial intelligence (AI). This pivotal milestone marked the inauguration of a regulatory regime aimed at finely calibrating the development and application of AI systems based on their potential risk levels to citizens' fundamental rights. This framework stands as a testament to the Parliament's commitment to channelling the boundless potential of AI in a responsible manner, safeguarding the bedrock of individual freedoms and societal integrity. As this vibrant AI landscape evolves, the spotlight inevitably falls on the indispensable role of algorithmic governance. This paramount concept underscores the pivotal participation of both public…

GOVERNANCE Sextant Consulting Pty Ltd COMMERCIAL IN CONFIDENCE E.O. (Edward Osborn) Wilson the Harvard social biologist was asked, “Will we solve the crises of the next hundred years?” “Yes, if we are honest and smart,” said Wilson. “The real problem of humanity is the following: we have palaeolithic emotions, medieval institutions, and accelerating God-like technology. And it is terrifically dangerous, and it is now approaching a point of crisis overall.”1 This sombre assessment could apply also to the world of governance. Before directors become defensive or indignant, let me explain and set up this “provocation” for looking for better ways to design a board operating model — which includes the systems, processes, structures, ways of working and use of technology, necessary to be effective and efficient. Firstly, regarding palaeolithic emotions, despite…

Did you bump into a psychopath today? Ever met one? How would you know? Does the image of the killer and the shower scene in the Hitchcock movie “Psycho” come to mind? Are there more in prison or the City of London? The concept is bandied about a lot, but there is a fascinating research history that can inform and warn those who come into contact with the psychopath at work. A theme has been developing in academic literature. It is that psychopathy at work is a double-edged sword, in the sense that it can predispose to both positive and negative outcomes. The idea that a psychopath could be (highly) successful in business settings is based on the spectrum concept that suggests that a person can have various degrees of…

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE I expect that you will have encountered or seen a version of artificial intelligence (AI) at some point. You may have asked Siri or Alexa what the weather will be tomorrow, used Chat GPT to summarise an article, or even watched Terminator or Tron. Internet chatter would suggest that the introduction of AI into our daily lives means that our day-to-day will never quite be the same again. As we speak, organisations are starting to invest heavily into AI, and as someone with a focus on negotiation training, I've been wondering how far AI will be implemented when it comes to negotiations. Is the expectation that, in the future, negotiations will be an automated transaction, correct? Is it likely that instead of two people negotiating, two AI will…

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE The term “artificial intelligence” (AI) was coined more than 50 years ago at Dartmouth College for a workshop proposal which defined AI as “the upcoming science and engineering of making intelligent machines”1. Since then, the field has experienced ups and downs, but re-emerged 10 years ago along with the groundbreaking advances in deep learning, and now the deployment of generative adversarial networks (GAN), variational autoencoders, as well as transformers (Vaswani et al., 2017; Haenlein and Kaplan, 2019). Those various techniques are now sophisticated enough to qualify AI for the stated ambition for smart machines at Dartmouth. A case in point is Open AI. Based on transformer-based generative AI (“LLM”) models, OpenAI's software suite of ChatGPT, DAlle-E and Codex already provide the foundations for new drug discovery, replace software…

When we visit a doctor with an illness, we don't think twice about the conversation we have regarding the symptoms we are experiencing. We discuss the fever and chills we may have, but we depend on our physician to determine if we are dealing with influenza, COVID, or a bacterial infection of some type. Through a discussion of our presenting symptoms and a variety of diagnostic tests, doctors can quickly prescribe treatment to minimise our symptoms and remedy the root cause of our illness. In business, however, we rarely talk about the symptoms we experience. Everything is seen as a problem. Within our business, we may experience internal conflict, accountability issues, profitability issues or even high employee turnover; yet we will view all these conditions as the problem that needs…

KEY TAKEAWAYS: 1 More than half of European enterprises face issues with their legacy networks such as security breaches, high cost of deployment, inconsistent availability and low capacity. 2 But spending on legacy networks maintenance will not work. Organisations will need to refocus investments on modern networks to enable the technology that will help European businesses maintain their global competitiveness. 3 Also, our research shows that companies also need to tie their business results to technology roadmap and create the talent required, since the right network modernisation investments can drive innovation-led growth. Europe is continually at the forefront of advancing the region's digital infrastructure and accelerating the digital transformation of businesses. The first 10-year digital agenda for Europe (2010-2020) identified for the first time the key enabling role of information…

At the heart of the DSAI concept lies a remarkable phenomenon—a symbiotic relationship between two intelligent entities, each striving to outperform the other. As AI technology reaches unprecedented levels of sophistication and efficiency, a complementary AI counterpart emerges by leaps and bounds, birthing a new generation of machine-to-machine ecosystem interaction and competition. This interplay between AI systems, positioned and acting as alter egos, is redefining the very fabric of AI advancement. With the DSAI rise, the AI ecosystem is experiencing a transformative shift, as AI systems not only collaborate with humans but also engage and will more and more engage in interactions and competition with their own kind. Here are a few examples that illustrate the DSAI concept: • AI Voice Assistants and Voice Authentication: As voice assistants like Amazon's…

BUSINESS MODEL New management systems emerge regularly, bringing with them innovative and promising ideas that can make a difference in the productivity of an organisation and the meaning employees experience at work. Management systems define how an organisation manages the interrelated parts of its business to achieve its goals. As they are linked to a variety of practices around the organisation, those management systems, in the end, develop a cultural narrative that ends up being taken for granted and spread, often unconsciously, by the members of the organisation. Probably, the most pervasive management system in our contemporary business world is Management by Objectives (MBO). For more than five decades, MBO has spread the SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-bound) principles to companies around the world. Two recent examples of…

Watching the recent Rugby World Cup, I found myself absorbed in the leadership, decision-making, skill, strategy and team camaraderie that underscore the game. Sport has played a significant role in my life, especially driving and delivering strong team performance, shaping my approach across various aspects of my career. Drawing first-hand from my experience on the pitch, I see a striking resemblance between high-performance rugby and successful business stewardship. While the spotlight often shines on individual brilliance, the collective effort, underpinned by a shared purpose, adaptability, a growth mindset and motivation, powers success on the field and in the boardroom. The game of rugby is rife with business leadership lessons, ranging from preparation and planning, team alignment, visibility, and communication to how we face success and failure, which cultivate shared accountability…

INTRODUCTION “Resilience” seems to be a common term used by professionals in many disciplines. Psychologists and medical experts talk about personal resilience, and corporate analysts, coaches and consultants talk about corporate resilience. After all, not only people but also their corporations need to overcome the state of dystopia1, reaching that of “eutopia”. Dystopia, according to Wikipedia, stemming from the ancient Greek δυσ (dus, “bad”), and τόπος (tópos, “place”), and also called “cacotopia” or “anti-utopia”, refers to a society that is undesirable or frightening. It is often treated as an antonym of “utopia”, a term that was coined by Sir Thomas Moore and figures as the title of his best-known work, published in 1516, which created a blueprint for an ideal society with minimal crime, violence, and poverty. The relationship between…