I had a great half day with Estu running a workshop on organizational productivity, and later on I also went for a nice run along the Thames while listening to talks for my #AcademicRunPlaylist!

First was an amazing talk by Dokyun Lee on the illusion of LLMs as human surrogates at the Virtual Digital Economy Seminar. Lee absolutely takes the hammer to this concept, methodically deconstructing the narratives and experimental approaches companies and boosters have used to promote this approach, and most organizational LLM use in general. Highly recommend https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0LvSo7-sDg

Next was an excellent talk by Mutsuhiko Yukioka on the evolving landscape of corporate takeovers in Japan, with commentary by Nydia Remolina at the European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bAQMFQS6jK4

Next was a fantastic talk by Sasha Luccioni on the structure of the AI industry's environmental, social, and economic costs and how to push the industry onto a sustainable path. Highly recommend https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IVa98vXorgg

Next was an interesting talk by Umakanth Varottil on the phenomenon of Indian companies flipping incorporation to Singapore and back, with commentary by Akshaya Kamalnath at ECGI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yl4QwkncO8I

Next was a great pair of talk by Thilo Kerkhoff (settling negotiation disputes) and Yaoxi Shi (improving initial conversations) at the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School https://youtu.be/n-WNgoqWh_8?si=44coO3Q90KHWpE48&t=2317

Next was "Helgoland: Making Sense of the Quantum Revolution" by Carlo Rovelli. When this book focuses on quantum physics it's incredible, explaining with witty and illuminating prose fundamental insights at the heart of the field. The second half unfortunately wanders into only vaguely related areas, with much less insight. This book is worth picking up for the first half, but you can safely put it down after that. Highly recommend https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/653621/helgoland-by-carlo-rovelli-translated-by-erica-segre-and-simon-carnell/

Last was "A Passion for Ignorance" by Renata Salecl. This book combines philosophy, psychology, and sociology to dig into the nature of ignorance, exploring the concept in general and in many of its instantiations in modern society. I actually appreciated the philosophical sections most, since while I've heard some frameworks around this before Salecl's clarifying analysis cuts to the heart of issues much more effectively. Very selfishly I do wish there was more exploration of ignorance at work, since there was a bit of this included for government leaders and doctors, for example, it's not examined as a topic in its own right. Highly recommend https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691195605/a-passion-for-ignorance