Automation is a controversial topic - many leaders are enthusiastic about the potential to cut costs and increase efficiency, while others fear for their jobs and the impact on company culture. Both perspectives are flawed. It is dangerous to reduce the automation debate to simplistic cliches, whether it be defending outdated human jobs or wishing for an AI-powered utopia where all our needs are met. Automation, AI, and algorithms are here to stay. The real question is: how do we make sure the future of work fits the world we want to live in?

We work for many reasons. For some, it is the need to pay bills and put food on the table, for others - a desire to fund certain lifestyle choices. But if you take a step back and look at human civilization as a whole, you’ll realize that there are infinite ways that our needs and desires can be taken care of without us working, in some cases, an eighty-hour week. But would we be happy in an automated, AI-powered world where human labour was no longer required? Not necessarily.

The risks of algorithmic discrimination and bias have received much attention and scrutiny, and rightly so. Yet there is another more insidious side-effect of our increasingly AI-powered society — the systematic inequality created by the changing nature of work itself. We fear a future where robots take our jobs, but what happens when a significant portion of the workforce ends up in algorithmically managed jobs with little future and few possibilities for advancement?

Maps have always been more than just guides to where things are. They are a mirror to ourselves: our values, perspectives, and ambitions. As we change, so do they. In this new world of smart cities, self-driving cars, and autonomous drones - maps are becoming living ecosystems shaped by machine intelligence and realtime data. And as we prepare for the imminent arrival of augmented reality devices and experiences, they will become more important than ever.

Everyone these days seems to have a plan for AI. Or at least, they plan to mention it as often as possible in press releases and briefings to analysts. Paying lip service to AI is a dangerous distraction and a missed opportunity. A few may be fooled for a while - but unless you do the hard work now to reimagine what you do, you are likely to be left behind as we shift into a new era of AI-powered competition.