Amazon Layoffs, UX and AI, AI Agent Social Network, and Having Too Many Goals
Your Weekly Review of News in Technology, UX and AI
Here’s the latest news, resources, and use cases from the world of product, UX, AI and technology. Let’s go:
📊 AI in Healthcare
👨🏭 AI-Proof Jobs
👩💻 Amazon Layoffs
🤖 UX and AI
🦾 AI Product Managers
😨 Feeling Unprepared
👥 AI Agent Social Network
📋 Too Many Goals
Podcast
Harnessing AI in Healthcare: Insights from RJ Kedziora
In this episode of Product by Design, Kyle Evans interviews RJ Kedziora, co-founder of Estenda, a company specializing in custom software and data analysis for healthcare. We discuss RJ’s journey in technology and entrepreneurship, the importance of energy management over time management, and the role of AI in healthcare. RJ shares insights into the challenges and future of AI applications, the need for ethical considerations, and the potential for personalized healthcare solutions. He also offers advice to aspiring entrepreneurs looking to make a difference in the industry.
News and Useful Reads
Is Your Job AI-Proof? What to Know About AI Taking Over Jobs.
AI isn’t able to take over most jobs, but we’re seeing the job market shift dramatically as entry-level jobs are in less demand, as well as roles in certain industries.
Artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming the workforce, and not always for the better. As companies continue to adopt AI to boost productivity, many are also cutting human jobs and replacing them with tools like ChatGPT or GitHub Copilot. AI adoption is especially impacting entry-level jobs, as early-career workers in the most AI-exposed jobs have experienced a 13 percent decline in employment.
Amazon’s layoffs are staggering. We’ve seen this before
Speaking of massive changes in the job market, Amazon laid off 9% of its workforce in the past few months. While it’s not because AI has taken over those roles, much of it can be attributed to AI. Amazon is clearly moving to replace certain workers with technology while it also works to save money (from employees) to further invest in AI.
While Amazon’s layoffs aren’t a direct result of AI, they’re tangentially related. Advancements in AI have sparked widespread concern about the future of jobs, as fellow tech giants Microsoft, Meta and Verizon all made layoffs last year.
Demand Accuracy in Your AI Tools: Lessons from Baymard Institute
Most of us are beginning to use more and more AI tools in our work. While many of these tools seem to do well, we can’t take for granted that they are still wrong too often. That’s especially poignant in UX and product development.
Many AI-powered UX tools promise heuristic evaluations, UX audits, or instant insights. However, most fail to disclose how accurate those outputs are — or when they should not be used. This trend was particularly egregious in 2023, but even as AI technology has improved, many tools marketed for UX work still lack reliability.
How top companies are using AI in their design workflows
Speaking of using AI in our UX and design workflows, it can be helpful to understand what other companies are doing and what is working (or not).
Recently top companies have publicly come out to share their processes implemented by senior designers and entire creative teams. Some notable companies like Meta and Atlassian stood out. Not only are these companies building their own AI workflows, but they are spending millions of dollars to train their employees on them.
How to Become an AI Product Manager
Being an AI product manager isn’t fundamentally different from any other specialty of product management. However, with the relentless focus on AI currently, it may be helpful to really focus on those skills if you want to truly be an AI product manager.
AI product management is becoming increasingly important as more companies build AI-powered products. Companies are looking for people who can take AI ideas and turn them into real products that solve problems and make an impact. If you’re thinking about a career in this space, it helps to understand how product management and AI work together and which skills can give you an edge.
Feeling unprepared for the AI boom? You’re not alone
It feels like we’re racing ahead at breakneck speeds toward new AI capabilities and technologies. And for many of us, it may feel like we’re barely keeping up or we’re already falling behind. But does that mean we can’t do anything about it?
“The future should not be treated as a forecasting or prediction exercise,” he said. “It should be treated as a design problem – because the future is not (something) where we just wait and see what happens. … We have enormous control over the future in which we live, and [the quality of that future] depends on the investments and structures that we create today.”
Where Tech Leaders and Students Really Think AI Is Going
The future never feels fully certain. But in this time of rapid, intense transformation—political, technological, cultural, scientific—it’s as difficult as it ever has been to get a sense of what’s around the next corner.
OpenClaw’s AI assistants are now building their own social network
The OpenClaw community has already spawned creative offshoots, including Moltbook — a social network where AI assistants can interact with each other. The platform has also attracted significant attention from AI researchers and developers.
On the platform, AI agents share information on topics ranging from automating Android phones via remote access to analyzing webcam streams. The platform operates through a skill system, or downloadable instruction files that tell OpenClaw assistants how to interact with the network.
Other Interesting Finds
What to do when you have too many goals
One of my perpetual struggles is wanting to (even needing to) do too many things. As I was writing my goals for the new year, I saw a familiar pattern: I have too many.
Ever feel like your goals are competing for your attention? For example, maybe you want to go on a whirlwind international vacation next summer, but you also want to save money for retirement. There might be a way around that. Researchers set out to study “goal harmony,” which is what happens when goals feel like they complement or even facilitate each other.