k-healing, sweetharting, and homesteading
November 15, 2024
Welcome to this 142nd issue of our newsletter “Weak Signals and other Trends”.
Each week, I personally sift through hundreds of sources of inspiration to track where we’re heading. If you are a new subscriber to this newsletter, take the time to send me a note and introduce yourself, I love to understand who is reading.
You can subscribe to this (roughly) bi-weekly newsletter here to get it directly by mail.
I have prepared this newsletter this week from Geneva, Switzerland. This is what I noticed these past couple of weeks, thank you for sharing with those who look into the future.
Estelle.
Competitive Intelligence
The world in the last 24 hours. 1dataset, 100 visualizations. Visualizing Ship Movements with AIS Data. Palantir Adds an AI Company to Its Arsenal for Military and Spy Work. Is your air fryer spying on you?:
The organisation tested three air fryers, each of which requested permission to record audio on the user’s phone through a connected app (..) the app connected to trackers for Facebook and a TikTok ad network (…) and sent recordings and people’s personal data to servers in China.
Strategic blindspots and business models
Looking at the familiar with “alien eyes” allows you to unlock new business model opportunities while avoiding risks stemming from strategic blindspots. This section also is about the risks we miss.
Taco Bell's new app feature helps customers tailor their orders to a specific budget. Is there a space for churchless churches. A bazaar of Tamales, Arroz con Gandules and Fufu — on Facebook Marketplace. Wonder spaces, or the death of the local restaurant. Outrageous predictions. Climate Change Keeps Farm Workers Away. Many retailers offer 'returnless refunds.' A fertility clinic lets women freeze their eggs and store them for up to 10 years for free if they agree to donate half of those retrieved.
How to Avoid Strategy Myopia and this quote:
polishing yesterday’s work isn’t useful if the world is in flux.
Our future
Models of space colonization. 10 Design Trends On Our Radar. Japan plans automated cargo transport system. The Luxurious (and Expensive) Race to Reclaim Your Time. I asked an AI to predict the near future of art and creative work. Gen Zs and millennials adopting the "homesteading" lifestyle trend.
It is the time of the year when trend reports start pouring in. Until end of January, I will for each issue add in this section and track those of interest to you, with my personal remarks:
McKinsey: The next 10 competitive arenas for 2040.
Foresight Factory: Consumer Trends 2025, pay attention to creating connections in a disconnected world
National Intelligence Council: a Transformed World. Global Trends 2025 is the fourth installment in the National Intelligence Council- led effort to identify key drivers and developments likely to shape the world
We keep you updated on those trends and more on Twitter.
Weak signals
Weak signals are indicators of a change, a trend or an emerging risk that might become significant for the future. They allow us to run hypothesis, expand our thinking, and challenge assumptions. How will you interpret those in your industry or field of expertise?
Korean 'healing fiction' captures hearts of young British readers. Russia fines Google more money than there is in entire world. Bougainville: The world’s next new country? Corsight AI is offering a new featureto help retailers detect “sweethearting,” or when employees give discounts or freebies to customers they know. Both employers and workers have embraced TikTok as a hiring platform. Detroit to become US' largest city accepting crypto for taxes. Japanese scientists sent the first-ever satellite made of wood into orbit on Monday.
Book a speaking engagement about weak signals and emerging trends.
Down the rabbit hole
This section highlights a subject that led me to many useful threads, or a single site, that opened many doors: “A rabbit hole is not a distraction. A rabbit hole is your brain trying to tell you to pay attention to something you’re curious about. Ignore algorithmic rabbit holes” ( by are.na):
This week, I explored the AI tools for culture.
Unpacking AI
This is a new section. Clients have asked me to dig into the impact of AI for their organization, industry, or their own work. I will add in this sections tools, or angles of interpretation that I find relevant to our community of curious minds:
AI Medical Imagery Model Offers Fast, Cost-Efficient Expert Analysis . Using AI to tailor prices isn’t ethical, says FTC. Virtual employees in MSoft, along with Zoom avatars. How artificial intelligence is changing the reports US police write. South Korea’s plan to introduce artificial intelligence-powered textbooks. AI Can Now Authenticate Sneakers by Their Smell. Retailer Mango is turning to generative AI for its latest model picks.
Hodgepodge discovery
Articles for curious minds and the polymaths.
Speculative fiction and worldmaking in the world of Jules Verne. How Grocery Cartels Created & Profited From Price Inflation. Where order comes from. Consensus as a service. New DNA study undermines narratives of Pompeii.
Numbers
25%- High-speed traders now dominate Wall Street, with Citadel Securities alone handling 25% of US stock trades.
3.5Bn- Global wine consumption dropped from 247m hectoliters in 2017 to 221m in 2023 — a difference of ~3.5B bottles of wine
50bn- the cost of the food theft market
Feeling good
“Walkcast is an ever-changing podcast generated as you walk, revealing the hidden layers that surround you. Guessing a place from the color of the sky. Read old books. You’re Richer Than You Think. When was this photo taken?
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