by Steve Dust, CEO, Greater Cedar Valley Alliance & Chamber

5 on Friday is a two-way street: please send me recommendations on books, reports, articles, blogs, videos, or anything you’re reading or watching that impacts business and the economy.

ONE: Did that Chicken Ever Cluck? Rib Have a Rib in it? Ribeye Have a Bone in It?

This week, Tyson Ventures announced an investment in Memphis Meats, a leader in the development of cultured meats from animal cells. Tyson’s unit joins Cargill, Bill Gates, Richard Branson, and others investing to explore new ways of filling the growing global demand for protein. This is a disruptor/game changer for the commodity ag and food industry that can have implications for the Cedar Valley and Iowa.

Tyson Foods Invests in Cultured Meat with Stake in Memphis Meats, GlobeNewswire, Seeking Alpha, January 29, 2018

TWO: The New Healthcare Model?

This week, Berkshire Hathaway Inc., JPMorgan Chase, and Amazon announced they would combine efforts to address satisfaction and cost in health care service delivery for their 1 million (plus or minus) employees. (Berkshire Hathaway’s local connections include MidAmerican Energy is part of Berkshire Hathaway Energy; part ownership in The Courier’s parent company, Lee Enterprises; and Wells Fargo.) The blog post link below is a combination of the joint announcement. Most of you have likely read about this with great interest, and the author’s realistic observations and projections of the potential disruption caused by an “Amazon Health Marketplace.” Here’s another big move to watch that could have real strategic impact on the Cedar Valley. There’s a lot of skepticism on the street about their ability to address such as big issue with a relatively small number of employees. That assumes it doesn’t launch into a new into Amazon Heath. That’s when it gets interesting for everyone in healthcare.

Amazon Health, Ben Thompson, Stratechery, January 31, 2018

Artificial Intelligence: Fact and Fantasy

A few weeks ago, I mentioned that I was reading Life 3.0: Being Human in the Age of Artificial Intelligence by Max Tegmark. It’s about what AI is, generally, and its implications for business and society. That pushed some button and ever since, I’ve been reading the quality info I can find on AI. Here are three items I want to pass along.

THREE: AI Changes Work

My suggestion is to pay a lot more attention to the Three Actions for Shaping the Future than the Five Schools stuff. The action items are more relevant to you and me today as we all figure out the pace and applicability of the early generations of AI.

How Will AI Change Work? Here Are 5 Schools of Thought, Mark Knickrehm, Harvard Business Review, January 25, 2018

FOUR: McKinsey Says AI Study/Tracking is a Time Critical Imperative

This is a very good exam of the impact on various industry sectors. Consumers seem to benefit first, and the real opportunity, to me, appears in the hardware and solutions delivery. Viva la consultants!

Artificial intelligence: The time to act is now, Gaurav Batra, Andrea Queirolo, and Nick Santhanam, McKinsey&Company, January 2018

FIVE: AI Policy

So, what are the policy implications of all this to the economy and the labor force? We’re still arguing about how to keep access to broadband, and how to distribute it. Who’s ready to talk about policy of AI? I’ve found Information Tech and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) – specifically, its president, Rob Atkinson — a very good voice in and on policy for technology topics. Here’s Rob’s recent thoughts on the implications of AI to the labor force and the economy, generally. His good advice: “take a deep breath and calm down” regarding AI’s impact on employment and humanity. Good advice.

Economic and Labor Force Implications of Artificial Intelligence, by Robert D. Atkinson, Information Technology & Innovation Foundation (ITIF), January 25, 2018