Category: Uncategorized

These days it seems we need to go to great lengths to protect our digital privacy. But there is such a thing as taking it too far, as one Australian man recently learned.

A 60-year-old electrician in Perth, Australia worked for an electrical company that used GPS tracking via a company-owned PDA to keep tabs on its employees. After protesting what he considered an invasion of his privacy, the man began hiding his PDA inside a mylar snack bag, which acted like a Faraday cage and prevented the PDA’s GPS system from transmitting location information. The fact that he used the technique more than 140 times and spent his “off the grid” time playing golf may have accounted for an Australian labor board ruling against him in his wrongful termination suit.

But with all of the tracking going on, much of it happening without our consent or awareness, there’s a certain satisfaction in securing some hard-won privacy. To help you find the level of privacy and cybersecurity that’s right for you, here is a roundup of 9 recent developments:

1. Researchers from a Chinese university demonstrated that “inaudible ultrasonic voice commands can be used to secretly interact with systems like Siri, Alexa, and Google Now.” The scientists first recorded regular voice commands, then converted them into ultrasonic frequencies that humans cannot hear but that many smart devices can receive and process. Using the technique, they were able to execute voice commands including ‘activating Siri to initiate a FaceTime call on iPhone, activating Google Now to switch the phone to the airplane mode, and even manipulating the navigation system in an Audi automobile.’

2. A new Princeton University study revealed that 400 popular websites use tools called session replay scripts designed to record everything you do on the website. This includes even forms that you fill out partially then abandon as well as data pasted into a form field from your computer’s clipboard. The privacy threat is twofold: first, this level of data collection is poorly disclosed, or not disclosed at all; second, on many sites it was learned that the data was linked to specific users’ accounts (rather than anonymized) and transmitted to third-party servers for processing (and who knows what else).

3. Android users alert. Technology website Quartz announced the results of an investigation into Google’s surveillance of Android users. Turns out, even when Android users have Location Services off, Google continues to record a user’s location using cell phone tower triangulation. “Devices with a cellular data or WiFi connection appear to send the data to Google each time they come within range of a new cell tower. When Android devices are connected to a WiFi network, they will send the tower addresses to Google even if they don’t have SIM cards installed.” In response, a Google spokesperson indicated the company was taking steps to end the policy.  

4. The new Apple iPhone X has attracted attention for its new facial recognition technology, features that Apple state are highly secure. But a recent report suggested that there may be a significant privacy loophole to those claims. It turns out that Apple shares that data with third-party developers in exchange for a promise that they will seek customer permission to use and share the data. The challenge is that once that data leaves Apple’s servers, “That remote storage raises questions about how effectively Apple can enforce its privacy rules,” according to advocacy groups like the American Civil Liberties Union and the Center for Democracy and Technology.

5. Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act has been interpreted by the Federal government to include the power to demand that a tech company build an encryption “backdoor” into their product if asked to do so by the secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court. With the government involved, it’s hard to predict the future of this legislation.

6. Often, people with moderate views of digital privacy rely on the idea of anonymity to justify the use of services that track them and record their lives. The thinking goes: “What does a giant corporation care about me in particular?” That viewpoint was called into questions after a group of security researchers from the University of Washington demonstrated that they were able to track individuals in real-time using about $1,000 worth of location-based mobile ads. They were able to track location as well as the apps and services a person uses, solely by exploiting flaws in mobile ad networks.

7. Yale Privacy Lab researchers found that over 75% of Android apps are secretly tracking users. They reported that, “Android apps tracking users aren’t just small timers looking to make a buck selling data—it’s apps like Tinder, Spotify, Uber, PayPal, Twitter, and Snapchat.” They shared a warning with Apple iOS users as well, stating that many of the apps in their study are cross-platform and likely to behave the same on other platforms.

8. As anyone who travels during the Christmas holidays knows, lines at security checkpoints can be endless. In an effort to reduce wait times, some airports are tracking travelers’ smartphones to be better able to adjust to moment-by-moment increases in the number of people entering security checkpoints. The challenge, of course, is implementing data tracking without consent or without clear policies disclosing how user data is collected, stored, shared, or even sold.

9. Until forced to end the practice by user complaints, Uber’s iOS app had special permission from Apple to record users’ screens. The ability to record a user’s screen comes from something called an entitlement, which lets a developer use certain resources in the normal functioning of their app or service. The problem, as it so often is, is what happens when this ability is exploited without a user’s knowledge. “Although the entitlement isn’t intended for this, the worry is that Uber—or a hacker who managed to break into Uber’s network—could silently monitor activity on an iPhone user’s screen, harvesting passwords and other personal information.” After the issue was reported, Uber announced that it had stopped using the entitlement.

Entefy regularly publishes roundups like this intended to help you stay informed about developments in the always complicated digital privacy universe. Check out our previous article featuring 10 cybersecurity and privacy threats that will make you miss Nigerian prince and lottery email scams.

When it comes to health, technology is making big impacts. Just not all of them are positive. On the one hand, technological advances in pharmaceuticals and medical devices are transforming healthcare and adding new ways to diagnose, treat, and prevent diseases. Think AI-powered X-ray analysis, liquid biopsies, and revolutionary gene therapies. But on the other hand, at the personal level, the picture is not always so rosy.

There are increasing signs that technologies like smartphones and social media are causing physical and mental health problems. Technology use (and especially overuse) is linked to everything from mental health issues to increased accident risk to recurring headaches.

Here are some areas where new research has found disturbing links between technology and health:

1. Decreased happiness and life satisfaction. One study into the links between Facebook use and well-being found that time on Facebook was linked to lower moment-to-moment happiness and overall life satisfaction. The more people used Facebook in a day, the more these two variables declined. The study’s authors wrote: “Overall, our results showed that, while real-world social networks were positively associated with overall well-being, the use of Facebook was negatively associated with overall well-being. These results were particularly strong for mental health; most measures of Facebook use in one year predicted a decrease in mental health in a later year. We found consistently that both liking others’ content and clicking links significantly predicted a subsequent reduction in self-reported physical health, mental health, and life satisfaction.”
2. Distraction increases risk of accident. By now you’ve probably seen a billboard or heard a radio ad talking about distracted driving. Public service announcements like that are the result of data about how serious distracted driving has become, including not only texting, but also reading maps, adjusting music, and using navigation apps. In 2015, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 3,477 people were killed as a result of distracted driving, 391,000 more were injured, and as many as 660,000 drivers were found to be using electronic devices while driving during the day.
3. Social media leads to social isolation. On the surface, social media should improve a person’s feelings of connection. But one study of social media use and social isolation found that the opposite is true. Across all major social media platforms—Facebook, Twitter, Google+, YouTube, LinkedIn, Instagram, Pinterest, Tumblr, Vine, Snapchat, and Reddit—increased usage correlated with the perception of social isolation. These feelings are known to stress a person’s physical and mental health by triggering fight-or-flight stress responses that can lead to illness and premature death.
4. Googling symptoms has a name. Hypochondria is a recognized psychological disorder that involves excessive worrying about health. In the Internet area, there’s also cyberchondria, the state of health anxiety fueled by inaccurate or incomplete self-diagnosis using online health resources. Cyberchondriacs are said to schedule unnecessary doctor’s visits and health tests. One study in the UK found that the problem may be costing the British health system more than $500 billion annually. 
5. Comparing yourself to your peers has links with depression. Many people share their best selves on social media, whether it’s their perfect vacation or picture-perfect dinner party. These posts inevitably lead us to comparing our own lives to what we see. Data suggests that this act of comparison leads to mental health issues. One study looked at how we make comparisons to others posts, in “upward” or “downward” directions—that is, judging ourselves to be better off or worse off than our connections. It turned out that both types of comparisons made people feel worse, in contrast to real-life social interaction where only upward comparisons make people feel bad about themselves.
6. Teens slower to learn indirect communication. Hanging out at the mall turns out to have important developmental benefits for teenagers. Because behind all of that chatting and aimlessness are unconscious social experimentation, trying out one’s skills, and succeeding and failing in real-time interactions—all of which serves as training for adult relationships later in life. Modern teenagers are learning (or not learning) to do all of that communication via screens rather than face-to-face. So they’re missing out on developing indirect communication skills like intonation and body language that are the foundation of strong communication and stable relationships.
7. Giving up Facebook improves perceived well-being. Another way to illustrate the impact of social media on our lives is to look at what happens when we say “enough”. A Danish studyinto the effects of quitting Facebook demonstrated that taking a break had positive effects on the two dimensions of well-being: our life satisfaction increases and our emotions become more positive. That data showed that these effects were greater for not only heavy Facebook users but infrequent users as well.
8. Now we’re worrying about ‘screen face.’ Researchers are investigating whether digital device screens impact the health of your skin. There are two main lines of inquiry: whether sunlight reflecting off of screens contributes to skin damage, and whether high energy visible light (so-called blue light) affects the skin. As of yet there is no conclusive evidence to suggest high risk, but to play it safe one dermatologist commented, ‘Until more research is done, people are better off just using broad-spectrum, five-star UVA protection every day.’
9. Yes, staring at a screen too long gives you headaches. If you stare at a screen for too long, you may experience tension headaches as another result of digital eye strain. So that means a lot of headaches given the fact that Americans spend 6 or more hours a day in front of computing devices. Neurologists recommend limiting screen time, avoiding high contrast views, and using anti-glare shields.
10. Does Internet addiction exist? “Everything in moderation” is a pretty reliable ethos, but one that’s a challenge for some Internet users. A study on Internet addiction was funded by the U.S National Institutes of Health, signaling a new level of concern by the mental health community. The study is focused on evaluating whether Internet gaming addiction qualifies for inclusion in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), the compendium of mental health disorders that serves as the basis for diagnosis and healthcare insurance funding.

Entefy has previously shared a roundup of research into the ways new technology is impacting our physical health. We also looked at the accumulating evidence that digital devices have a strong effect on our behavior and mental health as well. 

Yahoo. Equifax. Uber. Every day seems to bring headlines of some new cybersecurity breach or company accused of misusing customer data. More than ever, it’s critical to stay informed so you can better protect your personal data and digital identity. With that in mind, Entefy prepared this presentation covering 10 developments related to privacy and cybersecurity in popular apps and services.

You can read an in-depth look at these data trackers in Entefy’s article, 10 Signs data privacy is the new Wild West.

In recent years, the precepts of good design have expanded to encompass not just physical goods, but services and online businesses as well. Here, the term to know is “user experience,” shorthand for the goal of delivering high-quality, even memorable, experiences to customers. Commonly abbreviated as UX, user experience can be a critical differentiator for just about every business with customers. Yet delivering truly engaging UX takes effort, testing, creativity, imagination, and hard work.

The business writer and consultant Geoffrey Moore made an insightful comment about the importance of UX, framing user experience in terms of “moments of engagement.” He goes on to define these moments:

“You can think of these as tiny milestones in the customer journeys you are seeking to engineer. Which ones mark the key inflection points in those journeys? What are your moments of truth?”

Below we’ve assembled a list of 7 insights about the importance and power of UX that should be relevant to professionals in any line of work.

1. 9,900% return on investment. Research from Forester shows that on average every $1 in UX investment generates nearly $100 in business value. To realize that value, organizations need to apply design thinking to every customer-facing aspect of their business and institute a program of continuous improvement.
2. UX is a science. There isalso the view that successful UX requires interaction with and input from users. This view holds that the best way to identify areas where your business can improve UX is to preform user testing. In many cases, as few as 5 user tests can reveal the majority of the shortcomings of your product offering. But, importantly, user testing is not a one-time event. Adopt continuous cycles of feedback and improvement to make UX an integral part of your strategy.
3. UX is an art. Some proponents of user experience design maintain that the discipline is the domain of the visionary designer. Apple represents this view; Steve Jobs once said that ‘people don’t know what they want until you show it to them.’ He believed that successful UX emerges from talented designers building a user experience from the ground up, independent of activities like user tests and focus groups.
4. Give the user control. One of the true innovations of the UX philosophy is a change in perspective. That is, companies embracing UX need to transition from designing for their own needs to designing for the customer’s needs. User-centric thinking is a pillar of UX, but one that can be difficult for many companies to implement. After all, a large successful company has deeply engrained processes and perspectives; instituting a new worldview doesn’t come easily.
5. UX is not UI. For technology companies whose products are experienced through device screens, the distinction between UX and UI (user interface) is an important one. UI generally refers to the digital interface a user interacts with. Its definition is limited to what’s available to the user to take action with. UI is an element of UX in that how the interface works is one factor in the overall user experience. Think of a movie review app: the UI determines the look and feel as well as the functionality of the app, while the UX impacts the user journey and the flow of information, including the steps required to find information.
6. Good UX is like a successful dinner party. Barry Katz, a fellow at the legendary design collective IDEO, took inspiration in the ideas of Charles Eames, of Eames chair fame. He suggested that designers think like hosts expecting guests: “You are not creating for yourself. You are creating for another person, not an ‘end-user’ (ugh!) but a guest, whom you must welcome into your world. The people who use what you build must be made to feel at home with what you have done.”
7. UX is a competitive differentiator. User experience can provide key competitive advantage even for businesses whose products are otherwise low-value commodities. Just look at the water bottle company Swell. Entrepreneur Sarah Kauss founded the company on the insight that the humble water bottle could become a fashion accessory. Swell borrowed techniques from the fashion industry like name-brand designers and seasonal releases, using UX to create buzz and drive demand. It worked spectacularly: the average Swell customer has purchased 5 of the company’s water bottles.

As a technology company, Entefy is obsessed with how exceptional design impacts people’s lives. Be sure to check out our article discussing the problem of ageist design in digital products.

A leader who “ums” and “ahs” over too many decisions probably won’t be a leader for very long. Even when uncertainty is warranted, an obvious lack of confidence won’t inspire your team or coworkers. Professionals know that confidence can have tremendous value, but where exactly does it come from? And more to the point: how can we get more of it? After all, when we teach children that “you can be anything you want”, we do so on the premise that confidence is a key driver for success in life and work.

Research shows that most of us are not just confident, but overconfident. One influential study from 1977 that measured knowing and certainty asked participants to answer a series of questions then record their confidence in the accuracy of their answers. What the researchers found was that people who were 70% confident were right 60% of the time; while those who were 90% confident were right just 75% of the time. Confidence only gets you so close to the truth.

A person’s lack of confidence, meanwhile, is generally seen as a problem that needs to be fixed. There are books, courses, and coaches whose goal it is to help people become more confident. For good reason: without confidence, we will never believe in ourselves or have the nerve to try things that test our abilities.

The tricky part is getting your confidence and ability to properly align.

How do we align confidence and ability?

Confidence is most useful when it emerges from a foundation of ability. Research has given us some guidelines for how to make that happen. For starters, we have to be experienced in the domain we’re operating in. Reliable, grounded confidence requires that you already know the ins and outs of the system or specialization you’re attempting to predict or control or explain.

Second, that domain or system must be regular and predictable. You can certainly be confident in your ability to perform heart surgery, but it’s meaningless to say you’re confident you can win the lottery. Twenty years of experience buying lotto tickets doesn’t translate into accurate predictions for your next bet. After all, studies of investors and investing have found that even experienced stock traders often perform at a level just slightly above chance.

One implication of all this is that experts in stable fields can learn to trust their own intuition. A doctor making a snap diagnosis, a pilot navigating rough weather, or a designer gauging next season’s trends are rightly justified in trusting their instincts. But be wary of the experienced sports gambler who claims some underdog will win, or an investor who promises high returns year after year.

When predictions fall flat

Nobel Prize-winning psychologist Daniel Kahneman wrote about the hazards of confidence during his years in the Army. Tasked with identifying troopers with leadership potential, Kahneman put groups of soldiers through an obstacle course where he observed who took charge, who came up with solutions, and who became discouraged when their opinions were rejected by the other soldiers.

By the end, Kahneman believed he had a good idea of who had the qualities of a leader. But when he measured the results of his predictions? Barely above chance. “The story was always the same: our ability to predict performance at the school was negligible. Our forecasts were better than blind guesses, but not by much.”

Despite the discouraging feedback, Kahneman noted that he continued to feel confident in the predictions. “The statistical evidence of our failure should have shaken our confidence in our judgments of particular candidates, but it did not. It should also have caused us to moderate our predictions, but it did not. … I was reminded of visual illusions, which remain compelling even when you know that what you see is false.”

Gut instinct can be powerfully persuasive. Here’s a question: a bat and ball together cost $1.10. The bat costs $1 more than the ball. How much does the ball cost? For most people, $0.10 comes screeching to mind. That intuition is fast, easy, and just feelsright. Except that the correct answer is $0.05.

Confidence is a feeling that needn’t require logical analysis. It can accompany a gut reaction or even just a sense of ease. Take, for instance, the evidence that people are more likely to invest in stocks with easy-to-pronounce names. In Kahneman’s words, “Confidence is a feeling, which reflects the coherence of the information and the cognitive ease of processing it. It is wise to take admissions of uncertainty seriously, but declarations of high confidence mainly tell you that an individual has constructed a coherent story in his mind, not necessarily that the story is true.”

Sorting fact from fiction

What about overconfidence, confidence’s boisterous cousin? It certainly has its advantages: it motivates us, it can be self-fulfilling (believing in yourself makes you more effective), and it can certainly convince others to trust or follow you.

But that’s not to say that overconfidence should be taken to the extreme. Rather, that it’s useful in motivating ourselves and others. Surely we can be ambitious while also aware of our limitations. As we try things, and experience different rates of success and failure, we should learn and adjust our confidence level accordingly. If we don’t believe that our flaws exist, it won’t be easy to fix them.

The bottom line for professionals in leadership roles is this: seek balance. If you come across as overly indecisive, you’ll of course fail to inspire confidence in your colleagues or friends. On the flip side, brash overconfidence coupled with errors and mistakes does its own brand of harm. Instead, aim for an accurate understanding of your abilities coupled with a healthy skepticism for gut instinct. And don’t forget that doubt is a necessary element in effective, inspirational confidence.

Latest patent filings cover new inventions used in developing Entefy’s universal communicator

PALO ALTO, Calif. January 17, 2018. Entefy Inc. has filed an additional 15 patents with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). The company’s portfolio of filed and issued patents now stands at 46. These filings cover new inventions in a number of technology domains such as search, artificial intelligence (including natural language processing, data intelligence, and predictive intelligence), blockchain, communication, data privacy, and Internet of Things.

“Our team recognizes the valuable role innovation plays in staying ahead of today’s rapidly evolving market, and this news represents a major milestone in Entefy’s path to deploy the universal communicator,” said Entefy’s CEO, Alston Ghafourifar.

In 2017, Entefy announced that it had completed its Series A financing round at a $150 million valuation, the filing of an additional 13 patents in AI, cybersecurity, and data privacy, the issuance of a patent for encrypted search, and the issuance of another patent covering context awareness in messages.

ABOUT ENTEFY

Entefy is building the first universal communicator—a smart platform that uses artificial intelligence to help you seamlessly interact with the people, services, and smart things in your life—all from a single application that runs beautifully on all your favorite devices. Our patented technology combines digital communication with advanced computer vision and natural language processing to create a lightning fast and secure digital experience for people everywhere. 

On December 14, 2017, the FCC voted to repeal the rules that ensured that Internet Service Providers (ISPs) provide Internet access without restriction, preferences, or prioritization. It was a sad day in the history of the Internet.

The term net neutrality describes the principle of a free, open, democratic Internet where no one website or service is given priority over another. Despite evidence that 83% of Americans opposed its repeal, net neutrality is no longer the law of the land and, instead, ISPs are able to use their pricing power and near-monopoly status in many markets to slice and dice the Internet in whatever ways best boost their profits. Without net neutrality, it’s easy to imagine ISPs charging customers extra for “fast lane” access to certain websites—at their sole discretion—in the same way that cable television providers offer tiered pricing and channel packages.

The good news is that the principle of net neutrality isn’t dead. At least not yet. But it will take Congress changing current laws or favorable rulings in the courts to reinstate a free, open Internet.

In case you’re on the fence about net neutrality, or in need of some motivation to take action and show your support, we’ve assembled 6 reasons why net neutrality is a good thing. Each of these arguments on their own justify enshrining the right to a free Internet into law. Taken together, they’re an unassailable argument in favor of protecting the Internet from the narrow interests of a handful of industry Goliaths.

At the end of the article we’ve shared resources for following the net neutrality fight and expressing your support for the cause.

1. Net neutrality protects consumers choice and free speech. The top 4 broadband ISPs control 75% of the residential market. For fast Internet (100 Mbps) access, 88% of the country has either one or no provider. And many of the largest ISPs are also content producers, which mean their incentives to limit competing content is complicated at best. At its core, this conflict of interest has free speech implications: “In 1776, Thomas Paine didn’t need the permission of any other content creator or distributor to circulate Common Sense. But without rules prohibiting blocking, throttling, and the like, broadband providers would gain the power to limit what unpopular content flows over their networks—to the detriment of consumers and democracy.”  
2. Net neutrality is pro-business. The free availability to any kind of information drives personal and corporate productivity, enables new products and services, and allows for healthy competition among established companies and disruptive upstarts. The only businesses that win without net neutrality are the handful of ISPs. “Without net neutrality rules, prioritization of internet traffic by telecom and cable companies would skew the competition for content, as well as tilt the scales in the dissemination of all political and social views in favor of websites and companies that are able to pay internet access providers.”
3. Net neutrality is pro-freedom. Without net neutrality, ISPs are allowed to take certain actions that directly impact four Internet freedoms that consumers have come to value highly. Michael Powell, the FCC Chairman under President Bush, defined these freedoms in a 2004 speech: The freedom to access any content, so long as it was legal; the freedom to access any service or application; the freedom to use their Internet connections on any computer or device; and the freedom to get detailed, transparent subscription information from their ISP. These freedoms are now in jeopardy.
4. Net neutrality gives consumers the power of choice. In the absence of net neutrality, ISPs have the right—and the financial incentive—to bundle Internet services, including charging more for access to specific websites and services. With few or no options for many, consumers won’t even be able to vote with their pocketbooks when it comes to any new pricing models. ISPs gain the upper hand.
5. Net neutrality preserves the competitiveness of the U.S. technology sector. A free, open, non-preferential Internet has an important feature: every company that relies on the Internet for its products or services can compete on even footing with every other. This enables the quintessentially American ideal of fair competition. Without net neutrality, ISPs are in a powerful position of being able to pick winners and losers through their pricing power. Said one economics professor: “U.S. growth and worldwide dominance of high technology would be significantly challenged without network neutrality.”
6. Without net neutrality, the U.S. joins the out-crowd. Another result of the FCC vote is that the U.S. joins an exclusive group of countries without consumer protections for free, open Internet access. That group includes North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Cuba, and Iran. Also on the list is Portugal, where the “country’s wireless carrier Meo requires users to pay additionally for apps and services they would like to use, like WhatsApp, Facebook, Snapchat, and Messenger. Video apps are also offered as paid add-ons in a variety of bundles.”

Concerned about the future of the Internet? The fight for net neutrality will continue, so there’s still time to make a difference. The nonprofit Fight for the Future maintains a website called www.battleforthenet.com that features an automated tool for contacting your Congressional representatives. It is a good starting point for learning about the issues and taking action to support Internet freedom. 

Always be learning. For professionals today, keeping pace with the changing dynamics of business is an imperative. And the idea that a diploma represents the end of learning is an old fashioned one. Yet knowing that’s true isn’t the same as knowing how to learn effectively, or to manage the growth of your knowledge and skillsets into new specialties and directions.

If continual learning seems daunting, it doesn’t have to be. It’s not necessary—or even desirable—to start from scratch every time you sit down to explore a new subject. There’s one very powerful toolbox on your side: mental models.

The investor Charlie Munger is Warren Buffet’s longtime partner. In a talk at USC Business School in 1994, he laid out the rationale for using mental models to better understand the world. Here’s what he said:

What is elementary, worldly wisdom? Well, the first rule is that you can’t really know anything if you just remember isolated facts and try and bang ’em back. If the facts don’t hang together on a latticework of theory, you don’t have them in a usable form.

You’ve got to have models in your head. And you’ve got to array your experience—both vicarious and direct—on this latticework of models. You may have noticed students who just try to remember and pound back what is remembered. Well, they fail in school and in life. You’ve got to hang experience on a latticework of models in your head.

What are the models? Well, the first rule is that you’ve got to have multiple models—because if you just have one or two that you’re using, the nature of human psychology is such that you’ll torture reality so that it fits your models, or at least you’ll think it does.

He goes on to recommend that your own mental models should come from different areas and disciplines, giving you the intellectual flexibility it takes to foster expertise in a particular subject. Mental models serve a similar function as that of the pilot’s preflight checklist. There are many dozens of things that have to be confirmed to ensure a safe flight. Sure, you can just try and remember the list mentally but consistent use of preflight checklists improves safety dramatically. 

Similarly, when considering a situation, there are many ways of looking at that event. There is a scientific view, an economic view, a social view, a sustainability perspective, and so on. The more complex and consequential the topic, the more worthwhile it is to have a cognitive toolbox of mental models to apply. This becomes your own personal “latticework of theory,” to use Charlie Munger’s term.

You might be surprised by just how many of these mental models you already know about, or even use frequently. As you look over the following list, take note of which models “click” with you—these are the ones that deserve your attention and are likely to be useful to you in the future.

Here are 6 mental models that you can use to deepen your understanding of practically any subject:

1. Occam’s razor. Among competing and equally plausible explanations for a phenomenon, simplicity should be given preference; that is, the explanation requiring the least number of assumptions. When you hear the sound of galloping hooves, first assume horses, not zebras.
2. The map-territory relation. A representation of reality is not necessarily reality itself. Complex systems require abstract representation in order to simplify them sufficiently to be understood. We use maps, pictures, sketches, and measurements to represent something, but those representations are always potentially fallible. There is an imperfect relationship between reality and the models we use to represent and understand reality. This mental model suggests two questions: Is what I am looking at the map or the territory? And, is the map an accurate representation of the territory?
3. Bell curves or normal distribution. You’ve probably heard of bell curves and standard deviations. For many things in life, there is a normal distribution of outcomes that can be represented as a bell curve. Find the average, then expect an equal distribution on either side of that average. Height and IQ are two normally distributed attributes. The average IQ might be 100, but 2% will have scores above 130 and 2% will have scores below 70. This mental model triggers the question: Is what I am looking at the average or the exception? 
4. Feedback loops. Many systems have one or more feedback mechanisms that can impact strategic decisionmaking. Some systems are very simple: A causes B. In complex systems, there are many steps like A causes B, B causes C, and C causes D, ultimately leading to the outcome H. In these cases the feedback mechanisms is so that B is confirmed back to A and C is confirmed back to B, ensuring sustained quality along the way.For example, you move into an office which, unknown to you, has a remotely controlled thermostat. It feels chilly so you bring in a portable electric heater. No matter how warm you set the heater, the room stays cool because the thermostat is a hidden feedback mechanism. The warmer you set the heater, the cooler the ventilation becomes in order to maintain the thermostatic setting. In order to accurately change complex systems, you have to know what all the feedback mechanisms are. 
5. Zero-sum or non-zero-sum. Some systems are zero-sum and others are non-zero-sum, and it is vital to know the difference. Zero-sum systems have winners and losers. Sports games, spelling bees, and chess are all examples where there is a winner and a loser. Non-zero-sum systems are far more desirable because everyone can emerge better off than they were before—everyone can be a winner. Voluntary markets are an example of a non-zero-sum systems where everyone participates and finishes better off than if they had not participated. Zero-sum systems rest on the question: How do I win? Non-zero-sum systems rest on the question: How can we win? 
6. Correlation is not causation. This mental model is one of the most fundamental laws in statistics. When one thing happens and then a second thing happens, you can’t rely on the fact that there was a causal relationship between the two. Many things are correlated that are not causally related. For example, data will show a correlation between the age of Miss America and the number of people who die by hot steam; clearly, there is no cause-and-effect relationship between these two things. Our pattern-seeking brains fall prey to natural confirmation bias all the time, making unrelated correlations one of the most common decisionmaking mistakes. This mental model suggests the question: Am I confident that I know the real causal relationships?

Remember, these are only 6 of many possible mental models. They are listed here as a useful set of perspectives that can help you understand complex situations or get up to speed on a new topic. Using them and discovering your own can quickly deepen your understanding of the world around you.

$57.6 billion is expected to be invested in artificial intelligence and other cognitive technologies by 2021. Across a very diverse set of industries, AI is supporting new products and services, and upsetting longstanding competitive dynamics.

This presentation focuses on AI disruption in industries known for making smart use of emerging technologies. From telecommunications to travel to media, companies large and small are pursuing opportunities created by new AI algorithms. 

You can read more about the research featured in this presentation in Entefy’s article, Making smart use of smart systems: AI’s disruptive impact in 10 industries.

As internally developed artificial intelligence systems move from lab to deployment, the importance of creating unbiased, ethical systems is greater than ever. The challenge is that there is no simple solution to building ethical consideration into AI algorithms. But there are a few things you can do early on that help.

To get a sense of the many issues, let’s check out a hypothetical AI-powered job candidate review system. Designed as an AI chatbot, the system vets potential candidates, analyzing a wide range of objective criteria to determine whether someone should pass through the initial application stage. The company decided to restrict access by the system to data about a candidate’s gender, age, and ethnicity, in order to promote a level playing field for candidates who might otherwise be overlooked. 

The system provides another benefit, reducing the chance that a hiring manager’s bad mood or distracted mindset will hurt a qualified applicant’s prospects of landing the job. Operating without emotion, the AI system evaluates candidates based on their experience, skillsets, and even their empathy levels. But the system doesn’t make decisions, it makes recommendations, passing along the most promising candidates to the company’s human managers, who then rely on their professional judgment to make a final decision.

This simplified example highlights the need to anticipate non-technical factors like data bias in designing AI systems. Decisions made early on in the planning process help ensure your company successfully engineers an ethical AI system.

Indispensable human judgment

Data is vital to decisionmaking, and AI helps gather and parse that information. It can even generate reports and recommendations based on the objectives with which it’s been programmed. But a machine learning algorithm can’t tell you whether a decision is ethical or whether it will irreparably damage morale within your organization. It hasn’t spent years honing its business intuition – the kind of intuition that tells you that even though a decision looks right on paper, it would be a betrayal of your core client base. 

That’s where human judgment enters the picture. There are a number of approaches you can take for integrating AI into your decisionmaking strategies. Depending how high the stakes are and the problem you’re trying to solve, you might outsource the job to AI but insist that a person review its findings before action is taken. Or you might identify key areas that will largely be the domain of AI, relieving you of the need to be involved in every decision related to that particular process. 

But human judgment will remain central to business decisions for some time to come. In fact, judgment and interpersonal skills will be at a premium in the workforce of the future. As AI becomes an increasingly prominent tool in our professional arsenals, we must ensure that we’re using it ethically. Here are some ways to do that: 

1. Identify your company’s core values 

Systematizing your company’s core values starts with identifying and documenting those values. Start a process that captures the values that have become central to your company culture. Writing in Harvard Business Review, one researcher made a useful distinction between “values” as marketing and “values” as deeply held beliefs: “If you’re not willing to accept the pain real values incur, don’t bother going to the trouble of formulating a values statement.”

If an AI program suggests a course of action that makes sense on paper but not in the broader context of your organization’s long-term goals, you’ll need a strong internal compass to make the right call. Data is important, but you’re ultimately responsible for your decisions. When called upon to explain your actions, you can’t default to saying, “The AI made me do it.” Use the tools to gather information and add context to your decisionmaking process. But when you make a choice, human nature should be in the mix. 

2. Establish an AI oversight group 

Machine learning systems are only as good as the data we feed them. Which immediately creates a challenge for AI system developers: humans are biased. Even the most fair-minded person carries unconscious bias, sometimes without being aware of it. And so without meaning to, developers can end up corrupting the systems they’re designing to help us make more objective decisions. 

To get around this problem, create internal AI watchdog groups that periodically review your algorithms’ outputs and can address complaints about discrimination and bias. Then use the group’s findings to refine your AI-assisted approach to leadership. 

3. Use AI to facilitate better experiences for customers and employees alike 

Machine learning systems can generate powerfully personalized experiences—for both customers and employees. The World Economic Forum suggests that using AI ethically includes shifting employee performance metrics from output-based measurements to evaluating the creative value they bring to the company. “Although there are roles under threat, there are also roles that will become needed more than ever. It’s more cost efficient to retrain current employees to fill the roles you need in the future than it is to hire new ones, and they are also more likely to be loyal to your organisation.” 

One great part of the power of AI tools in the office is that people don’t have to do drudge work anymore. As their roles become more dynamic, so, too, should your evaluation standards.

By investigating these 3 areas early on in the development process, your company is better positioned to build new AI systems that reflect—and protect—your company’s values. And improve the experiences of your customers and employees alike.