Great Expectations
Our expectations, that is, our beliefs, shape our thoughts, which in turn direct our actions and shape our reality. In a very literal sense, we get what we believe. Or, to put it another way, we are responsible for the consequences of the beliefs we instil in others. In this Flux Trends briefing, we look at […]
Restrictions on Cultural and Religious Diversity
What’s trending? Some governments are banning citizens or employees from wearing items of clothing that they deem to be inappropriate. Over the past decade, France has imposed limitations on the religious dress of some French people. In 2004, Muslim headscarves were banned at French public schools. Burkinis (full-body swimsuits) were banned from beaches in 2016 […]
Community-centric retail
What’s trending? Encouraging a sense of community is emerging as an increasingly important part of a successful physical retail strategy. The pandemic precipitated a large-scale adoption of ecommerce which led to a sharp decline in foot traffic at brick and mortar shops. Since then, consumers have been returning to stores. A key element of this […]
Ethical Hacking
What’s trending? In ethical hacking, hackers are authorised to test the robustness of a company’s IT system. It’s been around for a while but a new type of hacking has emerged whereby the hackers use textual prompts instead of code to try to manipulate generative AI chatbots into inappropriate behaviour. In August, thousands of hackers […]
Worker data rights
What’s trending? Calls for worker data rights are growing. Workers lack proper protection for the data that employers collect about them. The range collected is wide, depending on the type of industry involved, company policies and legal regulations. These include HR information, time and motion data, geo-location data, shift and scheduling data, personal payroll data […]
Overtourism Pushback
What’s trending? Tourist spots around the world are beginning to introduce measures to counter overtourism – the phenomenon whereby places are inundated by tourists, causing undesirable side effects. Bali is a textbook example of a destination plagued by overtourism. The island of 4.3 million people saw 6.3 million visitors in 2019, the year before the […]
AI in Healthcare
What’s trending? It’s not an exaggeration to say that artificial intelligence has revolutionised the healthcare sector. It seems like every other day, it is reported that AI-enabled medical breakthroughs are taking place. In August alone the following case studies have emerged: researchers at Radboudumc revealed in Nature Genetics that their computer model based on facial […]
Keeping it cool
What’s trending? It’s not just humans who are feeling the heat – animals and plants are too. In the midst of a planet that is experiencing extreme heat in many parts, humans are trying to keep their cattle and crops cool. Human ingenuity combined with technology, both advanced and ancient, is being used to adapt […]
Single mums by choice
What’s trending? Single mums by choice (SMC) or solo mums refers to women who choose to become parents alone, i.e. without a partner. While this is not a new phenomenon, a growing number of women are opting for this lifestyle. Melissa Cameron, a fertility specialist at Melbourne IVF, says, “We[‘ve] certainly had big increases steadily […]
AI Advisors
What’s trending? Whom do we want to be receiving advice from? Humans or machines? We are beginning to see instances where artificial intelligence is capable of giving credible advice to humans. Google is busy testing an AI chatbot that could behave as a personal life coach. An AI tool has passed a mortgage advice qualification […]