September 21, 2012
Weekly roundup: The AI revolution, luxury hotels in Africa and ‘21st-century statecraft’
Posted by: Jessica Vaughn - New York in North America
-“The artificial intelligence revolution is here,” says The Christian Science Monitor, examining how AI is already changing our lives. The New York Times looks at the prospect of a future in which humans work alongside robots.
-The Harvard Business Review outlines the “management revolution” that big data will bring on.
-MIT’s Technology Review examines whether “outsourcing, X Prizes, citizen crowds, and Internet billionaires” will unleash the next big innovations, as the impact of venture capital wanes.
-Spain’s economic crisis is “reshaping consumerism,” reports Reuters, with Spaniards starting to lose their love of the new in favor of “intelligent buying.”
-The Economist spotlights the rise of “e-diplomacy” or “21st-century-statecraft,” looking at how today’s diplomats are using social media.
-Hotel chains are “racing to expand” in Africa as more business travelers visit the continent, reports The Wall Street Journal.
-The Economist explores the decline of driving in the rich world, where “the car’s previously inexorable rise is stalling.”
-For the first time, Asia is home to more super-wealthy individuals than North America, according to the annual survey by Capgemini and the Royal Bank of Canada.
-The New York Times Magazine takes an in-depth look at Cuba post-Fidel and the nation’s future.
-Life expectancy has dropped for America’s least-educated whites, “an increasingly troubled group,” reports The New York Times.
-The Guardian publishes an excerpt from Chris Anderson’s new book, Makers, that looks at the implications of the nascent Maker movement on manufacturing.
-Time releases its annual list of the 50 best websites of the year.
-comScore reports that 4 in 5 American smartphone owners now access retail content on their mobile devices.
-A new Forrester study looks at how retailers are advancing (or not) their m-commerce operations.
-The Wall Street Journal reports on how TV fans’ tweets and Facebook posts are influencing the scripts of some shows.
-The Guardian discusses growing disenchantment with Twitter.
-“The Era of Retail 3D Printing Begins,” declares Businessweek.
-A report from Altagamma and McKinsey forecasts a rise in online luxury sales, reports Warc.
-USA Today says luxury travel is making a slow comeback, with corporate meetings and events helping to drive the sector.
-Hotels are getting in on the juicing trend, reports CNN.
-The Wall Street Journal reports that restaurant chains are filling empty retail spaces, reshaping America’s commercial landscape.
-An annual study on America’s expanding waistlines forecasts that more than half the population will be obese within 20 years if current patterns continue.
-Record high Arctic Sea ice shrinkage is giving rise to predictions of more extreme weather to come, according to The Guardian.
-Time looks at the environmental complications of a more urbanized world.
-A New York Times op-ed outlines the challenges of work-life balance facing women on both the salaried and hourly ends of the employment spectrum.
-Despite the new multiracial face of America, many of the nation’s schools remain racially segregated, according to a study from the Department of Education.
-Psychology Today discusses research linking a decline in children’s freedom to a drop in creativity. For more on this topic, see our July trend report, Play As a Competitive Advantage.
-Bill Clinton makes a “Case for Optimism” in Time.
-Gen Z kids are exposed to tech at an early age, according to data from Ipsos MediaCT published in Adweek.
-An infographic from Schools.com shows how e-reading is overtaking paperbook reading.
-Fast Company covers our upcoming American Dream report.
