The Soul of Enterprise

A weekly radio show/podcast hosted by @EdKless and @RonaldBaker. Includes guests and current topics for professional firms. Business in the knowledge economy.

[The Soul of Enterprise @asktsoe]

Hey folks! We have a favor to ask of our wonderful audience. Would you mind leaving a review for us on iTunes? https://t.co/B8nXHpPojw #AskTSOE

[The Soul of Enterprise @asktsoe]

Here’s a truly profound thought to end the show today: Are we watching professional firms build their own player piano? They’re so bent on automating everything. Are we losing sight of what a professional is for?

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[The Soul of Enterprise @asktsoe]

“Just because you save time doesn’t mean it’s automatically well invested or well spent.” —Ron Baker

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[The Soul of Enterprise @asktsoe]

The principle of subsidiarity states that social, economic, and political problems should be dealt with at the most immediate or local level possible, and only handed over to a larger or higher authority when the lower level cannot solve them alone. https://t.co/zkZiTbImxj

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[The Soul of Enterprise @asktsoe]

Towards the end of Player Piano, even after rebelling against the machines, the rebels begin repairing them, revealing how deeply they have internalized the very system they sought to destroy. https://t.co/VrhbNALc42

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[The Soul of Enterprise @asktsoe]

“You still need that human dignity. You still need that builder. That creative act.” —Ron Baker on the future of work as it relates to AI

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[The Soul of Enterprise @asktsoe]

Adam Smith's Impartial Spectator (the link is a research article from the Vanderbilt Undergraduate Research Journal) https://t.co/bVm8Orhs5w

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[The Soul of Enterprise @asktsoe]

What caught our attention about Player Piano by Kurt Vonnegut? Vonnegut wrote Player Piano in 1952, long before computers and artificial intelligence became part of everyday life, yet he imagined a society where machines could make humans economically obsolete. https://t.co/HrD2vJl1L8

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[The Soul of Enterprise @asktsoe]

“Is it all really knowledge? Is wealth knowledge? Is Gilder correct in that wealth equals knowledge?” —Ed Kless during segment two of the show today (great riff, please take the time to listen)

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[The Soul of Enterprise @asktsoe]

“I don’t think this novel is anti-technology. It’s anti-technocracy. It’s really a warning against the rule of experts.” —Ron Baker on the novel Player Piano by Kurt Vonnegut

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[The Soul of Enterprise @asktsoe]

Today I learned that Kurt Vonnegut had a career at GE. He was hired in 1947 as a publicist and in-house journalist in the News Bureau in Schenectady, New York. https://t.co/jjevAGSQgy

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[The Soul of Enterprise @asktsoe]

Just a few short multiple choice questions and a few open ended questions. Let us help you reflect on your pricing model at https://t.co/zkGen2sKsg

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[The Soul of Enterprise @asktsoe]

Player Piano’s most tragic character is Rudy Hertz, the machinist who was the prototype recorded by the machines. They are player pianos replicating his physical motions. https://t.co/VrhbNALc42

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[The Soul of Enterprise @asktsoe]

The Jevons paradox, or Jevons effect, is an economic phenomenon said to occur when technological improvements that increase the efficiency of a resource's use lead to a rise, rather than a fall, in total consumption of that resource. https://t.co/Yp5KS29wkl

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[The Soul of Enterprise @asktsoe]

Previously, we discussed both The Verger and Harrison Bergeron on episode 368 https://t.co/XeUdmJ0rpI

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[The Soul of Enterprise @asktsoe]

The comparison between Kurt Vonnegut Jr.’s Player Piano and Pope Leo XIV’s most recent encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas: 1) Technology versus human dignity, 2) The loss of meaningful work, 3) The danger of a society built around efficiency

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[The Soul of Enterprise @asktsoe]

Player Piano is the debut novel by American writer Kurt Vonnegut Jr. https://t.co/VrhbNALc42

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[The Soul of Enterprise @asktsoe]

Episode 611 - Player Piano: Kurt Vonnegut's Warning About AI https://t.co/zIZv9EqO4m

[The Soul of Enterprise @asktsoe]

A big THANK YOU to Rob and Jeff for joining us today. Check out their book, Zero Entry, at this link https://t.co/Y5yIEQqxcs

@jeffseibert @Robilton #AskTSOE @ronaldbaker @edkless

[The Soul of Enterprise @asktsoe]

“I am broadly optimistic and what I’ve found is that [AI] does make a lot more [in life and business] naturally and innately human, and, the value of human connection is only going to continue to go up.” —Rob Hamilton of Digits

@jeffseibert @Robilton #AskTSOE @ronaldbaker @edkless

[The Soul of Enterprise @asktsoe]

“We are about a month and a half in to the age of computer use agents. […] Literally day by day, week by week, you’re seeing just incredible new capabilities emerge.” —Jeff Seibert of Digits

@jeffseibert @Robilton #AskTSOE @ronaldbaker @edkless