What happens when Artificial Intelligence becomes more than a tool, but rather a companion? How can social media increase actually being more social and what happens when these platforms fall in the wrong (or right) hands? In this episode, Ferry Hoes talks about these topics with Marvin Kunz, Behavioral and Data scientist at Wageningen University and co-founder of TechLabs Rotterdam. Marvin wrote a blogpost about AI becoming a comparison which you can read here.

Eating food is a necessary activity for humans to stay alive and healthy. However, eating food can also be a very enjoyable activity which is something Colin Knopper knows everything about. Colin is a marketing professional in the food industry and is also the co-founder of Two Hungry Bois (Instagram: @twohungrybois), a food-and catering company that strives to create great – sometimes a little crazy – food. Colin explains how they try and create an experience around food by being very personal towards their guests and how that helps them in creating fans rather than customers.

In this episode of The Human Era Podcast, I have a very dynamic conversation with Alice Bom. Alice is a data scientist who’s worked with the world’s largest organizations and handled daunting data sets, witnessing the impact of data and algorithms firsthand. She’s currently the co-founder of Mountain Platform and shares an interest in making the world of data more transparent and accessible. During this episode, we discuss data and algorithms’ (mis)usage in our digital world. Alice and I share an experience in working on optimizing websites and customer journeys, using data and technology to manipulate user behavior, purchases, content consumption, and more. We touch upon the (lack) of free will we have when using Social Media, like the funnel Youtube drags you in.

In this episode of The Human Era Podcast, I have a great conversation with Franziska Golibrzuch, a student assistant at ErasmusX who studies politics, philosophy, and economics in Rotterdam. We ask ourselves the question if decentralizing companies and platforms could be the solution to creating a better digital world for all humans. We also look at how we should use algorithms in order to avoid discrimination and the spread of fake news through Social Media? In this open and honest #podcast conversation, we have a hard look at the #digital day and age and discuss the past, the current, and the future of #technology and its impact on us all.

Would you feel betrayed when the “person” you were talking to online turns out to be a robot? And how do you sell a product or service in a business world that is dominated by automation and an abundance of technology? I talk to Levi Nijenhuis and Tjan Lee, two young and smart entrepreneurs who work in automation, and study its impact on humans and organizations.

The Netherlands has roughly 5500 kilometers of asphalted highways that need to be maintained, repaired, and improved. The Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure therefore constantly seeks ways to make the roads more sustainable and eco/friendly. To accomplish that goal, they use a lot of technology, while keeping in mind the comfort and safety of us – the people driving their cars on these roads daily. I talk to Miriam Frosi, Innovation Manager at the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure (Rijkswaterstaat) about being sustainable, dealing with transformation, and why you should sometimes just take risks and go for it!

Technology is a true blessing and at the same time, it can be our biggest downfall. We are currently “always-on” with our laptops, tablets, phones, and dozens of social platforms. How does all this technology impact our mental health? And with all this tech and social pressure, Is it still a good idea to stick to a 9 to 5 culture when we know we’re not always at our best during those 8 hours. I have a  conversation with Clara Nürnberg about these – and other – topics in this week’s episode. Clara is a Psychology student with an interest in the future workplace. She’s done research on the impact of technology on people within organizations.

Sales and customer service can be enhanced by technology, tools, and smart innovations. However, the one thing that will really set you apart in the long term is the relationships you build with clients, suppliers, and your teams. I have the pleasure to talk with Jaran Vromen about how building the right relationships can really grow a business in the long run, how skills and character can prove more valuable than just your education and we have a quick look at the potential of NFTs for companies.

What do we want our relationship with technology to be like? Human skills and technological innovations can be a match made in heaven. The only caveat is that humans should be the agents deciding which way technology goes. I talk about this and many other topics with Ryan Morgan who’s working on a project called Ghost work (https://www.ghostwork.org/). Ryan is a Ph.D. student at Erasmus University Rotterdam who is researching the relationship between digital labor working conditions and the well-being of crowdworkers in Europe.

Recently NASA launched the James Web Space Telescope, another product of exponential growth in technology. It has a huge potential to teach us more about space than we could ever imagine. I talk about these great achievements with Astrophysics Ph.D. researcher Kasia Nowak. We also touch upon the changes Social Media has brought to our society and how it impacts human emotions and the way we look at other people. What’s real and what is fake? And how does an unrealistic beauty and wealth standard affect younger people?

Technology is going to change the way brands and their fans interact, create and live their lives. I talk with Funs Jacobs about Branding, Web3.0, the meaning of empathy, and how the power of organizations is shifting with each new innovation. There will be fewer gatekeepers of creations and products and more power to the innovators themselves. Funs is an expert on Branding and Creative Strategy, an investor, and has worked with some of the most innovative and fast-moving brands to date.