Fewer Late Nights, Not Fewer Humans

You can train an AI on data containing no bias at all and still end up with a biased system. Understanding why is the difference between a working deployment and a reputational problem.

Alastair McDermott talks to AI ethics specialist Tom Murphy about the failures that do not announce themselves. Recorded December 2024.

They get into:

- What "alignment" actually means, stripped of the science fiction
- Proxies: how postcodes, titles and car colours smuggle protected traits back in
- How to test your own system for subgroup bias, concretely
- The trolley problem, four hundred data scientists, and what they could not agree on
- The cancer drug distribution dilemma, which nobody in the episode resolves

Listen now, wherever you get your podcasts.

Most failed AI projects are not too timid. They are far too ambitious.

Alastair McDermott talks to Michael Zipursky, CEO and co-founder of Consulting Success, who has advised organisations from startups to billion-dollar corporations across more than seventy-five industries, about why simple beats sophisticated almost every time. Recorded November 2024.

They get into:

- The "big solution" trap, and why five use cases at once produces none
- Build or buy, and the question nobody asks before signing
- What happened when an AI sales tool was pitched to him, and the brand risk underneath it
- Using AI to find your own use cases, rather than guessing at them
- Why he thinks subject-matter expertise gets more valuable, not less

Listen now, wherever you get your podcasts.

Most AI pilots die at the end of the pilot. The reason is usually not the technology.

Alastair McDermott talks to Patrick Ward, who spent twelve years at Microsoft shaping their global approach to IoT and AI and now lectures at UCD Smurfit Business School, about why proofs of concept so rarely become anything. Recorded November 2024.

They get into:

- The three fundamental truths that decide whether a pilot scales
- Why ten people in one company will give you ten different value propositions
- Bolt-on or rethink: the question that has to be answered before the build
- The talent gap his research found, which was not the one anybody expected
- Twenty real use cases produced by ten developers in a single morning

Listen now, wherever you get your podcasts.

A twenty-person manufacturer cut its customer response time by seventy-five per cent. No AI department, no consultants, no budget for either.

Alastair McDermott talks to Ethan Wadsworth, director of sales and marketing at Discreet Heat, the company behind ThermoSkirt, about what small-company AI adoption actually looks like when it works. Recorded November 2024.

They get into:

- Why a twenty-person firm employs a full-time software developer
- How a hundred thousand Instagram followers competes with a million-pound budget
- The prompt he gives people who do not know where to start: write down five things you are bad at
- Cutting a lab's data entry by ninety per cent, and what those people do now
- Why he thinks the scarcity of knowledge was the whole economy, and what replaces it

Listen now, wherever you get your podcasts.

Are you drowning in AI hype but still waiting to see real, tangible results for your business? You're not alone.

In this episode of Fewer Late Nights, Not Fewer Humans, host Alastair McDermott sits down with Heidi Araya, a process improvement consultant with over 25 years of experience driving multi-million dollar improvements through AI automation.

This insightful conversation cuts through the noise to reveal how businesses are using AI in the real world to save time, increase profitability, and gain competitive advantage. Through practical examples and case studies, Heidi shares her expertise on finding genuine value in AI implementation.

Key topics include:

Why many businesses struggle to find value in AI implementations
How to identify the right AI use cases for your business
Real-world examples of successful AI automation
The future of AI in sales and customer service
Practical approaches to AI implementation without eliminating jobs

Tune in to discover how you can move beyond the hype and start implementing AI solutions that deliver real results for your business.

Key Insights

Many businesses struggle with AI because they focus on the tool first instead of identifying their specific business challenges
Recording meetings and calls can provide valuable data for AI processing, though privacy considerations need to be addressed
AI automation should focus on enhancing human capabilities rather than replacing workers
Smaller businesses may be better positioned to implement AI while maintaining jobs, as they need diverse skill sets
The capabilities of AI are rapidly evolving, requiring regular reassessment and experimentation

Strategies

Start by identifying pain points: "What makes you groan when you wake up?"
Use AI for automating repetitive tasks while maintaining human touch for important interactions
Implement proof of concepts before making large investments in AI solutions
Consider privacy implications when selecting AI tools and platforms
Record and analyze sales calls to improve performance and understanding of client needs

Topics include: AI implementation, process improvement, business automation, sales automation, customer service, ai strategy, small business, practical ai applications, business transformation

Speakers: Heidi Araya Host: Alastair McDermott

Quotes

"So first of all, I ask them, what makes you groan? You wake up in the morning, you're ready to start your day, what makes you groan?" - Heidi Araya, 3:08, Fewer Late Nights, Not Fewer Humans

"It may not be today, it may not be tomorrow or even next year, but three years from now, they will wish that they had taken more action and kept on the forefront of it." - Heidi Araya, 29:33, Fewer Late Nights, Not Fewer Humans

Fewer Late Nights, Not Fewer Humans

🎙️+📺 SHOW: Fewer Late Nights, Not Fewer Humans is about turning AI into real productivity gains - for you and for your team. Hosted by Alastair McDermott of HumanSpark, it is for business leaders who want to work smarter and faster with AI, and then scale those wins across their team and their organisation. Join me to learn how AI can help you automate repetitive tasks, boost productivity, and create a more enjoyable workplace for your team.

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💻 - WEBSITE: https://humanspark.ai