In the introduction to the third season of "Boss Class," host Andrew Palmer details his personal journey experimenting with a wide range of AI tools. His goal is to move beyond the hype and identify where artificial intelligence is genuinely useful for managers and employees today. This hands-on experience has elicited a spectrum of emotions, from delight at its functionality—such as enabling even non-coders to program—to fear and annoyance regarding its limitations and persona. Alongside his own trials, Palmer promises to explore how companies are already successfully deploying AI, from serving customers to founding businesses, with some entrepreneurs treating AI agents as co-founders. The season will also address how to prepare for an AI-driven future, emphasizing that the most successful individuals will be those who avoid uncritical over-reliance on the technology. He cautions that AI is still wrong a substantial portion of the time and is not a replacement for human judgment or new talent. The season is available exclusively to Economist subscribers.
Hi, I'm Andrew Palmer, host of the Economists' Work and Management podcast, Boss Class. For our third season, I've been challenging myself to try new things. Hi, who is this? Who am I talking to? Hello, I'm Andrew Palmer, a senior writer at the Economist and the host of the Boss Class podcast. Hello, Andrew, this is totally weird. Talking to my own clone was just the start. I've been trying out every AI tool I can get my hands on. I want to cut out the hype to find out where AI is most useful to managers and employees right now. My journey has thrown up the whole gamut of emotion. Delight. I want an unfiltered reaction. It actually works. Very cool, see? Even you can code. Even I can code. Fear. I'm terribly shaped. I'm terribly shaken by this. What is the point? And a little annoyance, too. I'm afraid I already hate chatGPTs persona. Right, oh, sorry, chatGPTs, I think you were listening. Absolutely, if you'd like to take it. God, those embarrassing. Alongside my own attempts to make AI work for me, I'll explore how companies are already successfully using the technology. And serving customers to building a business. I basically looked at these AI agents and I said these are my co-founders. And I'll find out what we should all be doing to prepare for the future. I genuinely think like the people who are going to be the most successful in the coming years are the people who can resist just hitting the easy button. And it's wrong. It's wrong maybe 20% of the time, 30% of the time. And if you think it replaces your newcomers, you're not just wrong, you're out of your mind. Boss class season 3 is coming soon. You'll need to be an economist subscriber to listen. Just search "Economist Podcasts Plus" for our best offer.
Podcast Summary
Key Points:
Andrew Palmer, host of the Economist's "Boss Class" podcast, is experimenting with various AI tools to assess their practical utility for managers and employees.
His exploration has evoked mixed emotions, including delight at AI's capabilities, fear about its implications, and annoyance with certain aspects like ChatGPT's persona.
The podcast will also examine real-world business applications of AI, from customer service to entrepreneurship, where some view AI agents as "co-founders."
A key insight is that future success depends on not over-relying on AI's "easy button," as the technology is still prone to significant errors and cannot replace human newcomers or critical thinking.
Summary:
In the introduction to the third season of "Boss Class," host Andrew Palmer details his personal journey experimenting with a wide range of AI tools. His goal is to move beyond the hype and identify where artificial intelligence is genuinely useful for managers and employees today. This hands-on experience has elicited a spectrum of emotions, from delight at its functionality—such as enabling even non-coders to program—to fear and annoyance regarding its limitations and persona.
Alongside his own trials, Palmer promises to explore how companies are already successfully deploying AI, from serving customers to founding businesses, with some entrepreneurs treating AI agents as co-founders. The season will also address how to prepare for an AI-driven future, emphasizing that the most successful individuals will be those who avoid uncritical over-reliance on the technology. He cautions that AI is still wrong a substantial portion of the time and is not a replacement for human judgment or new talent.
The season is available exclusively to Economist subscribers.
FAQs
Andrew Palmer is a senior writer at The Economist and the host of the Boss Class podcast, where he explores topics related to work and management.
Season 3 focuses on Andrew Palmer's personal experimentation with AI tools to determine their practical usefulness for managers and employees, alongside examining how companies are successfully implementing AI.
He experienced a range of emotions including delight, fear, and annoyance, reflecting both the potential and frustrations of current AI technology.
Andrew believes AI should not simply replace human effort; successful individuals will be those who avoid over-reliance on AI and critically engage with its outputs, as it can still be error-prone.
You need to be an Economist subscriber; you can find it by searching for 'Economist Podcasts Plus' for the best subscription offer.
He mentions companies using AI for customer service and business building, and shares a personal anecdote about using AI agents as 'co-founders' in entrepreneurial ventures.
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