The Pandemic's Been Great For Zoom. What Happens When There's A Vaccine?

Most companies will spend even more on it to make it more seamless and value-added. 

Individuals, friends and family will spend more as well, because they have gotten used to it - and like it. JL

Rani Molla reports in Re/code:

The end of the pandemic does not signify the end of video calls. The vast majority of office employers plan to use a hybrid work model; some of their workforce works remotely at least some of the time. As large as it was this year, $7.9 billion,  the videoconferencing market is expected to grow next year to an estimated $9.7 billion with 90% of North American businesses likely to spend more on it/ (But) "it needs to add more value,," and that will include augmented reality to make meetings more engaging and viewing data together as a group more useful.

Apple Devices Are Becoming Extensions Of Human Minds and Bodies: Are People Ceding Control?

Yes. And they will be okay with it until that moment when they realize they have ceded more control than they wanted...but, of course, by then it will be too late. JL

Alex Hern reports in The Guardian:

Apple has turned us into organisms living symbiotically with technology: part human, part machine. We outsource our contact books, calendars and to-do lists to devices. We no longer need to remember basic facts about the world; we can call them up on demand. Apple Watch tracks your vitals in real time. Whether we trust Apple might be beside the point, if we don’t know whether we can trust ourselves. It took eight years from the launch of the iPhone for screen time controls to follow. What will human interaction look like eight years after Apple smartglasses become ubiquitous?

The Reason Tech Execs Are Leaving the Bay Area For Places Like...Texas

Elon Musk is merely the latest wealthy tech exec who has publicly flirted with the notion of moving from California to Texas. 

Taxes are increasingly an issue, specifically, taxation of capital gains, which are significant for tech and are treated more favorably in a number of states like Texas than they are in California. JL

Cory Weinberg and colleagues report in The Information:

Evidence that the Bay Area might be starting to lose its grip as the tech industry’s power center: available office space doubled this year, while monthly apartment rents dropped 21%. High housing costs have frustrated residents (but) some are leaving California because of the state’s high taxes. Many tech executives earn the bulk of compensation through stock grants, whose capital gains are taxed as income in California. Texas and Florida have no state income taxes. Employees consider following (because) “Proximity to power is always relevant to the workplace."

Public Trust And Willingness To Take Covid Vaccine Is Growing In US

As positive news about the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines has spread, Americans' willingness to be inoculated is growing. 

This is, in large measure, due to increased confidence in the science behind it and in the efficacy of the development process. JL

Cary Funk and Alex Tyson report in Pew Research Center:

The share of Americans who say they plan to get vaccinated has increased as the public has grown more confident that the development process will deliver a safe and effective vaccine. 60% of Americans say they would definitely or probably get a vaccine for the coronavirus, up from 51% who said this in September. 39% say they definitely or probably would not get a coronavirus vaccine, though 18% say it’s possible they would get vaccinated once people start getting a vaccine. 75% have a fair amount of confidence in the development process today,

Why the Pandemic Is Causing Brands And Franchisees To Fight

As the pandemic cuts sales and profits through lower customer traffic and increased virus protection costs, franchisees and brands are fighting over who should bear what percentage of the costs. 

There is no simple solution but as a primary source of small business entrepreneurship, there are implications for employment and economic growth. JL

Micah Maidenberg and Heather Haddon report in the Wall Street Journal:

Franchisees run 55% of American hotels. They operate 84% of U.S. chain restaurants. The 774,000 franchised establishments in the U.S. employ 8.4 million people. Companies are asking franchisees to buy equipment and adopt new safety protocols, moves they say are necessary to reassure customers during the pandemic and to grow thereafter. Franchisees are pushing back on store upgrades, promotional discounts and fees they say are excessive and undermine their profits.

With New Saliva Kits, Covid Virus Home Testing Becomes Easier

With skyrocketing community spread of the virus, the goal is to make testing as comfortable, non-threatening and easy as possible in order to identify sources. 

Testing at home avoids long lines and uncomfortable jabs up the nose - and results can be provided as accurately and in the same time period as the nose tests. JL

Miriam Jordan reports in the New York Times:

The first do-it-yourself home saliva tests require users to dribble into a test tube, seal it and send it to a lab. As the tests become widespread, they could provide a less-uncomfortable alternative to nasal swabs and enable more people to safely return to work and school before a vaccine is widely available. Once a testing kit is ordered, it is shipped within 24 hours. Results are available in 24 to 48 hours. “With community spread at such high levels we’ve focused on removing barriers to make testing as easy and accessible as possible.” A well-designed saliva test can be as accurate as a nasal swab

Yes, Of Course Santa Is On Zoom!

Children who've been going to school on Zoom since March may have an easier time accepting this than their nostalgic parents. JL

Chris Stokel-Walker reports in The Guardian:

Santa appearances this year will be “considerably down. Maybe 10% compared with normal.” Whether we will lose the magic over faltering wifi is up for debate. “You’re never going to make it the same, but this is as good as it gets this year." Digital meetings give virtual Santas longer with children. “Normally, after five minutes, there are other people waiting.”

Putin Orders Mass Covid Immunization To Begin Next Week In Russia

Russia claims the efficacy rate of its vaccine, called Sputnik V, is in the 95% range, rivaling Moderna and Pfizer. 

That has not been independently verified. This should be interesting. JL 

Lucian Kim reports in NPR:

Russia has more than 2.3 million coronavirus cases, the fourth-highest caseload in the world after the U.S., India and Brazil. The Kremlin is betting on a Russian-made vaccine called Sputnik V. Putin said one of his daughters tried it. The Kremlin says mass vaccination will be free of charge and carried out on a voluntary basis. In one recent poll of Russians, 22% of respondents said they were willing to get a Russian-made vaccine, while 44% were not. In another poll, conducted by the country's ruling United Russia party, 73% of respondents said they were not planning to get vaccinated against COVID-19 at all.

The Pandemic Has Taken Ecommerce To Highest Percentage of Retail Ever

The biggest news may be that physical retailers now account for half of online sales. 

The question is whether that will continue once widespread vaccination and return to a semblance of former patterns occurs. JL

Benedict Evans reports in his blog:

Every year, the share of retail taken by ecommerce rose a little higher, and physical retailers got a little more uncomfortable, but the growth in any given year was never dramatic enough to make headlines. Until 2020. Ecommerce was ~17% of addressable retail at the beginning of the year. It spiked 20% in Q3. Half of online sales now come from physical retailers’ online stores. They gained share in lockdown.

Pfizer Cuts Vaccine Expected Shipments 50% Due To Supply Chain Problems

Final approval came later than originally expected. Then supply chain and quality issues pushed anticipated volume back even further. 

Pfizer still expects to deliver a billion doses in 2021, but the reality is that this is a complicated roll out and all companies' vaccine delivery projections should be viewed as hopeful rather than guaranteed. JL

Costas Paris reports in the Wall Street Journal:

“Scaling up the raw material supply chain took longer than expected. And it’s important to highlight that the outcome of the clinical trial was later than the initial projection.” Pfizer and partner BioNTech SE had hoped to roll out 100 million vaccines world-wide by the end of this year, a plan that has now been reduced to 50 million. Pfizer still expects to roll out more than a billion doses in 2021 as originally planned. “Some early batches of the raw materials failed to meet standards. We fixed it, but ran out of time to meet this year’s projected shipments.”

Why There Will Be A Covid Vaccine Black Market For the Rich and Powerful

From fudging the definition of 'essential worker' to pressuring authorities, experts predict that the rich and powerful will find ways to jump to the front of the line for Covid vaccines.

And given the way the US healthcare system is currently designed, they may not even have to do anything illegal. JL

Olivia Goldhill and Nicholas St. Fleur report in Stat:

Athletes, politicians, and other wealthy or connected people have gotten special treatment throughout the pandemic, including preferential access to testing and therapies. Early access to coronavirus vaccines (will) be no different: fudging the definition of “essential workers” or “high-risk” conditions, lobbying by the influential, physicians caving to pressure, and bribery or theft. "Our system is designed to advantage people with means. They don’t have to do anything sinister, they access the system they are a part of.” (Access to) vaccines will never be completely protected from abuse.

How Tech And Big Data Is Transforming People Analytics, Hopefully For the Better

Data gleaned from work behavior is becoming ubiquitous and constantly replenished in real time. From keyboard strokes to Zoom call facial expressions to recorded phone interactions, enterprises have never had more information to analyze and apply, ostensibly for the betterment of the organization and the outcomes it seeks.  

But concerns are that the data, particularly that which professes to interpret psycho-social behavior, is less well developed than claims of its prowess may suggest, and that the uses to which the information is put may misinform or even abuse employees and customers, especially when there is no right of review or appeal. With the growth of greater power comes the obligation to wield it carefully and wisely - or risk losing it. JL

Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic and Ian Bailie report in Harvard Business Review:

Successful corporations, such as Google and Microsoft, are recruiting Ph.D.’s in Industrial/Organizational Psychology, accelerating digital transformation by deploying smart technologies, AI and big data to improve talent management. Data is a digital record of employees’ behaviors, and people analytics a science that translates data into actionable insights that improve effectiveness; a systematic attempt to make organizations more evidence-based, talent-centric, and meritocratic. Frequent "pulse surveys” and employee listening can drive action. (While) digitization of work behaviors (can) monitor, predict, and understand employee behaviors at scale, deployed in an unethical way, also permit employers to manipulate employees.

How mRNA Went From Scientific Outlier To Covid Vaccine Savior

Both Moderna and Pfizer's partner BioNTech owe their mRNA vaccine to a Hungarian biochemist whom the University of Pennsylvania refused to promote because her research was not attracting enough funding. That was then...JL

David Cox reports in Wired:

mRNA molecules act like digital tape recorders, copying instructions from DNA in the cell nucleus, and carrying them to protein-making structures. Without this key role, DNA would be a useless string of chemicals. Artificial mRNA, designed and created in a petri dish and delivered to the cells of sick patients through nanoparticles, offer a way of instructing the body to heal itself. With the Covid-19 pandemic requiring vaccine development on an unprecedented scale, mRNA vaccine approaches held a clear advantage over the time consuming method of using a dead virus to create an immune response.

Algorithms Setting Competing Prices Collude Just Like Corrupt Humans

Algorithms setting pricing strategies without oversight appear to be as collusive and corrupt as humans. JL

Edd Gent reports in Singularity Hub:

Algorithms play an increasingly prominent part in our lives. But there are plenty of situations in which relatively dumb algorithms could do serious harm unintentionally when interlocked in complex networks of relationships. Pricing algorithms that underpin marketplaces online rely on machine learning. After being set an overarching goal, they develop their own strategies based on experience, often with little human oversight.This combination sets the stage for AI-powered pricing algorithms to adopt collusive pricing strategies.

Covid Vaccine Chief Says Side Effects Are 'Significant' In 10-15% of Cases

It is normal to feel some side effects after being inoculated with a vaccine. And the Covid vax will be no different. 

But some people will experience headaches, fevers and chills for as long as a day - and may want to stay home from work. Though this is expected, it is likely to attract attention and concern so authorities are already cautioning the public about it. JL

Berkeley Lovelace reports in CNBC:

The side effects, which come from the vaccine shots, can last up to a day and a half. The people who’ve suffered from side effects have reported redness and pain at the injection site as well as fever, chills, muscle aches and headaches. "If you feel something after vaccination, it’s normal. Maybe even having to stay home from work.” (But) most have no noticeable side effects. “We need to make patients aware that this is not going to be a walk in the park. They are going to know they had a vaccine. They are probably not going to feel wonderful. But they’ve got to come back for that second dose.”

As Remote Schooling Persists, Bots Are Grading Homework - And They're Often Wrong

A 'wrong' answer might be because a student wrote '3' instead of 'three.' 

Software providers are blaming teachers for the problems but the reality is that the product is not yet intelligent enough to discern the subtleties of student performance. It is yet another example of technology promoting itself as a time-saving answer which turns out to be counterproductive and destructive in the current situation. JL

Julie Jargon reports in the Wall Street Journal:

Lower-than-expected grades might be less an accurate reflection of  children’s work than a glitch in the automated systems many schools are using to check schoolwork. The root of the failure is in the simplistic design of many grading bots: They try to match a student’s response to a teacher’s answer key. If the two aren’t identical, the response is often marked wrong, even if a human could easily see it’s correct. It is yet another headache for teachers, parents and students brought on by the sudden shift to remote learning.

Where Do Covid Patients Go When Hospitals Are Already Over Capacity?

Temporary facilities pick up some of the load like the tent at right. Then some patients are given 'rationed care' - which means they are given less care than would normally be called for - because there are not enough beds, doctors, nurses or medicines. 

And finally, they are simply turned away. JL

Lenny Bernstein reports in the Washington Post:

With more than 91,000 covid-19 patients in their beds, U.S. hospitals are in danger of buckling beneath the pandemic and the needs of other sick people. In small- and medium-size facilities hit hardest by the outbreak’s third wave, that means finding spots in ones and twos. Covid-19 patients can linger for weeks, even a month, complicating the effort to find space for the current surge of sick people. Some doctors acknowledge they are rationing care, a euphemism for providing some patients a lower level of service. The National Guard has been dispatched to handle Covid-19 corpses, many held in refrigerated trailers. 

The Danger Of Rising Pandemic-Driven US Long Term Unemployment

The official US unemployment rate does not include millions of Americans who classified 'out of the workforce' or 'underemployed.'

The problem is that they make up a growing proportion of the unemployed  and their inability to find work could threaten any post-pandemic economic recovery. JL

Michael Sainato reports in The Guardian:

“We’ve seen in the last two months the two biggest increases in long-term unemployment in history.” More than 25 million workers in the US are suffering from the economic downturn. Long-term unemployment among Americans who have been out of work 27 weeks or longer is growing, with an increase of 1.2 million people in October to 3.6 million Americans. The 6.9 % unemployment rate doesn’t include those considered out of the labor force or under employed.

How the Pandemic Doomed Walmart's In-Store Robots

This is probably more about timing than an end to automation in retail. 

It was cheaper for Walmart to have human employees fulfilling online orders handle restocking. Once the systems are better understood - and the negative PR from firing workers in favor of robots during a recession is over - Walmart and other retailers will renew robot use. JL

Lisa Lacy reports in Ad Week:

The retailer found that human employees, who are now in store aisles more frequently to fulfill online orders, are equally effective in identifying out-of-stock products. “The cost of maintaining and operating the machines is sometimes far greater than paying people to do the same thing.” Plus, the news comes at a time of high unemployment for human workers. Walmart can get a PR boost from “firing robots in this economy.” Buy online pick up in store (BOPIS) services, which have seen massive growth this year, offer the most potential for robots in retail. Robots and humans work together to fulfill orders in these scenarios.

Research: Facebook Groups Pose Biggest Threat To Public Trust In Covid Vaccines

Facebook has publicized its efforts to remove misinformation from public content. 

But its efforts do not reach private groups on the site which are free to spread anti-vaccination messaging and which represent both a far larger audience and far larger threat. JL

Brandy Zadrozny reports in NBC:

The biggest threat to public trust in a Covid-19 vaccine comes from smaller, better-connected Facebook groups that gravitated to anti-vaccination messaging in recent months. Members of communities previously considered unrelated or “undecided” on vaccines, pet lovers, parent school groups, yoga fans and foodies, are increasingly connecting with the anti-vaccination movement. Private groups remain hubs for misinformation regarding Covid-19 and vaccines. The anti-vaccination movement has used the pandemic to reach more than 100 million susceptible Facebook users.

The Reason Personal Responsibility Doesn't Help Much In A Pandemic

There is a lot of frustration and conflict about individual, personal responsibility as the primary reason for the exponential growth of the pandemic this fall. 

But it may be that the collective failure of will governments and the societies that nurture them is more the problem. And that may have been exacerbated by the increasingly atomized nature of human interaction fostered by technology. JL

Paul Blest reports in Wired:

That the United States has 11 million coronavirus cases and counting is not due to a lack of personal responsibility and a surplus of selfishness. There are a lot of assholes out there who refuse to wear a mask, but there is not something innate that makes us incapable of controlling a pandemic. Rather, we’re seeing the end result of governments (and businesses) being willing to say that this a problem we have to take seriously, but being unwilling to do the things that actually show people that as a country, we’re far past the point we were at back in the spring.

Covid Combat Fatigue Is Impairing Healthcare

Shortages of staff, equipment, beds and medication are taking a physical and psychological toll on frontline healthcare workers. 

This has been exacerbated by the rapidly growing patient load, sometimes from patients who, due to disinformation, deny the existence of the virus even as they are dying from it. The result is that despite providers' best efforts, patient care is suffering. JL

Katherine Wu reports in the New York Times:

Surveys from around the globe have recorded rising rates of depression, trauma and  burnout among professionals already known for high rates of suicide. Frontline medical workers describe unrelenting stress that has become an endemic part of the health care crisis. Many related spikes in anxiety and depressive thoughts, as well as a chronic sense of hopelessness and deepening fatigue, spurred in part by the cavalier attitudes of many who seem to have lost patience with the pandemic.

How Covid-Overwhelmed Hospitals Are Triaging Patients

As Covid spreads and hospitals become less able to care for new patients due to staff, facility and medicine supply constraints, they are beginning to institute triage plans that determine who qualifies for care and who does not. 

The reality is as logical as it is brutal. JL 

Josh Kovensky reports in Talking Points Memo:

State and local governments, and hospitals, have planned for what to do when the number of patients far outstrips the ability of a hospital or health care system to treat them. (Among those policies): hospitals only admit patients with a chance of survival; patients receive smaller doses than needed of medications in shortage, or are asked to take expired medicines; patients on limited “life-saving technologies” re-evaluated at 48 and 120 hours to determine if the plug should be pulled; no attempts to resuscitate people in cardiac arrest; comfort care sites established for patients expected to die.

Is Microsoft Software To Grade Employee Meeting Body Language, Facial Expressions Based On False Premise?

Microsoft has patented a surveillance software tool to grade organizational meeting 'quality' by assessing such factors as body language, facial expressions and speech patterns as well as monitoring whether meeting participants - whether remote or in person - are simultaneously texting or surfing the internet. 

The potentially false premise on which this system is based is that there is a 'normal' way for people to behave in meetings. Given what has been learned over time about optimal performance - especially since the beginning of the pandemic - this software appears to be intrusive and subjective without offering any causal link to outcomes. The greater danger is that it stifles innovation, initiative and diversity which could potentially make it counterproductive as the economy moves to greater flexibility in work location and style. JL

The BBC reports:

Microsoft filed a patent for a system to monitor employees' body language and facial expressions during meetings and give events a "quality score." It allows managers to keep track of individuals' use of Microsoft's software. Sensors could record which invitees attend a meeting; body language and facial expressions; the time each participant spent contributing; speech patterns consistent with boredom and fatigue. Employees' mobile devices could monitor whether they were simultaneously texting or browsing the internet. "Surveillance software operates on the false premise there is a normative way people work optimally." Microsoft is already under fire over a separate "productivity-score" tool.

"Absolutely No One" Who Got Moderna Vaccine Suffered Severe Covid

And Pfizer, using a similar novel messenger RNA technology had only one severe case in its test group. 

This suggests that the mRNA solution may be the most powerful answer to the virus. JL

Jon Cohen reports in Science:

Of the 30,000-person Moderna efficacy trial, only 11 people who received two doses of the vaccine developed COVID-19 symptoms after being infected with the coronavirus, versus 185 symptomatic cases in a placebo group. More impressive, Moderna’s candidate had 100% efficacy against severe disease. There were zero such COVID-19 cases among those vaccinated. Pfizer and BioNTech have developed a similar mRNA vaccine with an efficacy of 95%. In the final analysis of their 45,000-person trial. In that study, just one severe case was in the vaccinated group.

A New Database Is Tracking AI Failures - And Holding Them Accountable

Given government's reluctance to cooperate on AI issues and big tech's lobbying against any sort of regulation, a crowd-sourced platform will now provide a compendium of incidents and lessons learned before a disaster strikes. JL

Samir Ferdowsi reports in Motherboard:

The Artificial Intelligence Incident Database (AIID) is a crowdsourced platform with intentions to wrangle in the Wild West of AI. The platform is being used to document and compile AI failures so they won’t happen again. A “systematized collection of incidents where intelligent systems have caused safety, fairness, or other real-world problems,” is creating a repository of articles about different times AI has failed in real-world applications. “We learn a lot when a big company makes a mistake in AI. You should learn from the first mistake. You’re accountable for the second.”

Why Apple, Nike And Coca-Cola Oppose Bill Banning Goods Made With Chinese Forced Labor

Supply chains and consumer markets, in case that was not already apparent. JL

Ana Swanson reports in the New York Times:

The legislation, that would ban imported goods made with forced labor in China’s Xinjiang region, has become the target of multinational companies including Apple, Nike and Coca-Cola whose supply chains touch the far western Xinjiang region, tying Coca-Cola to sugar sourced from Xinjiang, and documenting Uighur workers in a factory in Qingdao that makes Nike shoes alongside Adidas, Calvin Klein, Campbell Soup Company, Costco, H&M, Patagonia, Tommy Hilfiger and others.

GM To Sell Auto Insurance Based On Driver Tracking Data

GM and other auto companies are trying to monetize the data being generated by increasingly digitally managed cars. They are especially anxious to do so using information that big tech companies cannot acquire from third party sources. 

Whether notoriously independent drivers with their own ideas about what constitutes safe driving and fair insurance prices will find this an added inducement to buy GM vehicles - or an arrogantly intrusive violation of their personal space remains to be seen. JL

Mike Colias reports in the Wall Street Journal:

General Motors is launching a car-insurance business based on its vehicles remotely tracking drivers’ behavior and set insurance rates accordingly. Customers who sign up agree to have their driving habits tracked. Those who obey the speed limit, avoid sudden stops and practice other good-driving behavior will be rewarded with cheaper rates. As more new cars are sold with internet connections, car companies are branching into services to capitalize on the growing reams of data generated by a vehicle’s onboard computers and sensors.

Why Younger Adults Eager To Be Vaccinated Will Probably Be Last To Do So

The most vulnerable by dint of age, health conditions or because they are frontline workers like nurses or teachers will be the first to get the vaccine. 

Healthy young people, as much as they want to get vaccinated so they can return to jobs, high school or college campuses - or because they want to party - may not receive inoculation until 2022. JL

Marisa Fernandez reports in Axios:

Young, healthy people will be at the back of the line for coronavirus vaccines. The most vulnerable people, frontline workers, seniors and people with underlying health problems that cause severe coronavirus illness, will be the first priority as a limited number of vaccine doses become available. 60-70% of the U.S. population need to get vaccinated in order to achieve herd immunity, the key to stopping the virus from spreading. The lowest-risk Americans, people who are young and healthy, may not get the vaccine until 2022. 75% of students and 62% of adults 18-44 said they would take an FDA-approved vaccine.

How Amazon Won Black Friday and Plans To Dominate Holiday Shopping

Amazon used the pandemic-driven decline in real estate and cargo jet prices to build out its network, giving it a strategic advantage in managing deliveries. 

This has already proved crucial during a massive holiday shipping season which, as of December 1, is already causing merchants and other shippers to warn consumers that packages may be delayed. JL

Cat Zakrzewski reports in the Washington Post:

Online spending on Friday jumped 22% from a year ago. Meanwhile, traffic to physical stores tanked 52%. The company has used the crisis to expand its logistics operations, seizing on plummeting prices on everything from commercial real estate to cargo jets. “They are building the world’s biggest package-delivery company.” Since the beginning of July, Amazon has hired 400,000 workers, 2,800 employees a day. This effort, which has accelerated during the pandemic, will give Amazon an upper hand as other retailers struggle to deliver packages in a network jammed with holiday purchases.

The Countries That Have Ordered Enough Covid Vaccine For Their Entire Population

There are risks even for those in the four countries wealthy and aggressive enough to have pre-ordered vaccines for their entire population.

The more of the world that is not inoculated, the longer it will take to provide global protection and the more likely that those in 'protected' countries will remain unsafe. JL

 Katherine Foley reports in the World Economic Forum:

Canada, Japan, the UK, and the US have pre-ordered enough vaccines to immunise over 100% of their populations.The scramble to pre-order vaccines helped spur their rapid development. Essentially, these orders allowed vaccine developers to take on the financial risk of clinical trials without knowing whether the candidate will work. (But) Mathematical models predict that the pandemic will kill more people, if wealthy countries buy all of the vaccines first, than if vaccines were distributed equally.

FCC Chair Ajit Pai Who Killed Net Neutrality To Resign January 20

FCC Chair Ajit Pai, who pushed through the elimination of net neutrality using frequently criticized tactics and data, will resign his position on the day the new Administration takes office. 

Efforts to reinstate net neutrality have already begun. JL 

Nathan Ingraham reports in Engadget:

FCC chairman Ajit Pai has announced that he’s leaving the commission as of January 20th, 2021, the same day that President-elect Joe Biden will be sworn in. It’s not a major surprise, as such appointees often resign as a new administration takes over. Pai will always be remembered for his infamous decision to strip net neutrality protections. The FCC voted along party lines to remove the “Title II” classification for broadband service, which then allowed internet service providers to practice blocking, throttling and paid prioritization as long as they disclosed those practices.

AI Can Now Manage Remote Meetings, Including Who's Paying Attention

The ostensible purpose is to make meetings more efficient and to give speakers and meeting managers real-time feedback. 

But it is not a stretch to assume this can also be used for performance reviews in a remote or in-person workplace. JL

Arielle Pardes reports in Wired, via ars technica:

AI tackles the social distance of virtual meetings (by) using computer vision to translate approving gestures into digital icons, amplifying each thumbs up or head nod with emojis the speaker can see. Those get added to the official transcript, which is automatically generated by software. This type of monitoring is made clear to all participants at the start of every meeting, and teams can opt out of features if they choose. Software (can also) use emotion recognition to gauge how much attention participants are paying. Those metrics are displayed on-screen to give the speaker real-time feedback.

How Robots Are Helping Shrink Warehouses As Pandemic Ecommerce Demand Grows

As more consumers in populated urban areas move to ecommerce and delivery, merchants are responding by building distribution centers in tight city spaces so process and delivery times can be reduced. 

The result is growing demand for 'microfulfillment' which relies on robotics to make the smaller warehouses work efficiently. JL

Jennifer Smith reports in the Wall Street Journal:

Microfulfillment is aimed at speeding up the delivery of goods to consumers in cities through operations that pack large numbers of products into tight, urban spaces. By squeezing operations into urban warehouses and the backs of stores, businesses hope to pare delivery times so online orders reach their destinations in hours, not days. The sites are far smaller than sprawling, labor-intensive distribution centers. The rush to online shopping during the pandemic is accelerating moves toward space-saving, automation-powered warehouses, storing products in spaces only robots, not humans, can reach.

What's Next For Remote Work As the Pandemic Drags On?

As experience already suggests, those most likely to continue working remotely are in the most highly paid professions such as finance and tech, in the most developed, primarily western, countries.

But even if only 20% of the workforce can work remotely using a hybrid model, research suggests it will have a profound effect on the economy, including service sectors such as commercial and residential real estate, retail, hospitality and urban areas. The question is whether this will reinforce a growing sense of socio-political and economic alienation which may ultimately impact stability. JL

Susan Lund and colleagues report in McKinsey Global Institute:

20% of the workforce could work remotely three to five days a week as effectively as they could if working from an office. If remote work took hold at that level, three to four times as many people (could) work from home than before the pandemic. Remote work potential is concentrated in finance, insurance, management, business services, and technology. Advanced economies could dedicate 28 to 30% to working remotely. (But) only 65% of Americans surveyed said they had fast enough internet service.

How Psychologists Are Using AI To Understand Covid Safety Resistance

Skepticism and resistance to Covid containment measures, research suggests, is based on values, beliefs, ethics and attitudes rather than age, gender or nationality. Since this opposition tends to violate social norms - which is often hard for people to do - the question is why these beliefs are so strong that they engender that behavior. The most salient characteristics which emerged among those tested were based on optimism or pessimism about the future.

The application of these findings to organizational settings may reveal attitudes about prospects for advancement, relations with co-workers or supervisors and job satisfaction which could then be addressed by institutional processes. It may also be optimized to combat misinformation The use of AI and machine learning reveals that a theory-blind, data-driven set of predictors can help generate hypotheses relatively quickly which can be effectively tested in an organizational environment. JL  

Benedict Carey reports in the New York Times:

Psychologists intent on understanding human behavior during the pandemic (wanted to learn)why some people adhere more closely than others to Covid-19 containment measures. The machine-learning program pitted combinations of attitudes and answers against one another to see which were most associated with strict ethical beliefs. The belief that “humanity has a bright future” was associated with a strong code, and the belief that “humanity has a bleak future” was associated with a looser one. “In the context of the Covid-19 pandemic, findings suggest that if we want people to act in an ethical manner, we should give people reasons to be optimistic about the future of the epidemic”

The Reason There Will Be A Covid Baby Bust

This is not just a healthcare crisis, it is an economic crisis and perhaps most of all, a childcare and education crisis.  Those lessons are being internalized. JL

Joe Pinsker reports in The Atlantic:

One analysis is based on the volume of Google searches for pregnancy- and unemployment-related terms from earlier this year. It projects a 15% drop-off from this month until February, while (others) predict a decline of 10 to 13% over the course of 2021.“This crisis is an economic crisis, a child-care crisis for parents, an upending of our social institutions and way of life." Any rebound will unfold incrementally, as different sectors of society recover. “The catch-up will not happen all at once, because the resolution of the crisis will be gradual,”

Pandemic Personal Space: How Close Is Too Close?

If 2020 has taught humanity anything, it's that personal space is adaptive - very personal. JL

Frederique de Vignemont and Colin Klein report in Aeon:

2020 was a worldwide social experiment in keeping our distance. Humans protect themselves from potential threats by keeping them at a distance. Those beginning to see friends again after months of pandemic-induced social distancing balance the desire for contact against a sense of risk. Neuroscience sheds light on how humans conceive of  their boundaries. Where is the dividing line between you and the world? The boundary is blurrier than you might think. Individuals differ in their tolerance for physical and emotional closeness.

The Reason Robots Arent the Biggest Threat To the Future Of Work, Policy Is

Technology is creating as many new jobs and professions as it is eliminating. 

The problem, according to new research is that the benefits of that technology are not being shared proportionately, let alone equally. And that is a policy problem, not an automation problem. JL 

Edd Gent reports in Singularity Hub:

A new report has found technology is creating as many jobs as it destroys, and bad policy is a bigger threat to workers than automation. 63% of jobs performed in 2018 did not exist in 1940, suggesting even as technology makes some jobs obsolete, new ones are created. Technology-driven productivity gains have not been shared equally. While US productivity has risen 66% since 1978, compensation for workers and those in non-supervisory roles has risen only 10%. The problem is a lack of minimum wages, sick leave, notice periods, collective bargaining rights and atrophy in training programs.

Why There Is Growing Concern About Emergency Covid Vaccine Approvals

History suggests that the first vaccines approved may ultimately prove not to be the most effective. 

But once emergency approvals are given experience suggests vaccine trial participants will start to drop out in order to be vaccinated rather than continuing, which could impact the development of newer vaccines and improvements in the first approved. JL

David Cyranoski reports in Nature:

Once a vaccine is granted emergency approval, there is pressure on developers to offer the immunization to trial participants who received a placebo. But if too many people cross over to the vaccine group, the companies might not have enough data to establish long-term outcomes, such as safety, how long vaccine protection lasts and whether the jab prevents infection or just the disease.There’s also the risk of people in trials other than the Pfizer–BioNTech and Moderna ones dropping out to get vaccinated under emergency-use provisions

Can Advertising Build Trust And Overcome Resistance To Covid Vaccines?

 

It worked in the 1950s against polio. But 47% of Americans have expressed skepticism about taking Covid vaccines, the highest level of resistance among developed countries - and in the nation with the world's highest infection levels.

Whether advertising can overcome misinformation on social media as well as build trust in authorities is going to be a huge challenge given the socio-political overtones of that skepticism. JL

Tiffany Hsu reports in the New York Times:

The private sector is backing a $50 million campaign to persuade people at a time when polls suggested 47% of adult Americans are not confident in a potential vaccine. Research concluded “a high number of individuals are misinformed about vaccines,” expressing mistaken beliefs about the treatments’ association with autism and toxins. Researchers also found a correlation between belief in vaccine misinformation, low trust in medical authorities, and exposure to material about vaccines on social media.“In vulnerable communities disproportionately affected by Covid, they trust their physicians, their pharmacists, and so we have to go very local in having trusted messengers."

More Americans Are Surviving Covid But Many Factors Could Change That

Healthcare professionals believe the improvement in survivability is largely due to better patient care. 

But if the current surge in infections continues at its current pace, that equation will change as hospitals become overwhelmed, health care resources like ICU beds and staff become scarcer and patients suffer from a lack of attention driven by declining resource availability. JL

Sarah Toy reports in the Wall Street Journal:

The coronavirus is now killing around 0.6% of people it infects, an improvement from April, when the death rate was about 0.9%. (But) the recent improvement could prove short-lived if cases in the U.S. continue to surge. Death rates will climb again as patients overwhelm hospitals, straining their capacity and staff and lowering quality of care. U.S. hospitalizations have hit several record highs. Death rates can change depending on the availability of health-care resources, such as hospital beds and staffing. "When cases go up, hospitals get overcrowded and death rates rise.”