Entrepreneurs, ladder climbers, and those looking to future proof careers gather round. The Gig Economy continues ahead at break-neck speed and machine learning is growing at exponential rates. Do you have the skills to beat a machine in your next business endeavor, career move, or job?
Ready to build some mental muscle? Complex pattern recognition is going to be a crucial skill for humans to hone as machine learning (AI) gets better and better at simple pattern recognition.
As the world becomes even more complex and difficult to navigate, The Profit Algorithm is intended to help you drill down from endless possibilities to potentially profitable ventures.
So how does it work?
Cⁿ represents an exponential technology that is capable of converging with another. So, we add two exponential technologies together (Singularity University excels at this practice). An example of this could be combining solar powered air planes and swarm drones; or satellite imaging and pattern recognition software.
Ei represents your existing infrastructure and √P stands for where you can derive profit. Ei could be your company's production facility, or your ability to code software. √P is the probability that your current ventures will continue or increase in profitability. You want to play to your strengths, so leveraging current skills/facilities and what makes your business successful is crucial to balancing the top of the algorithm.
F represents what is feasible, and S what is scalable, both within a 5-10 year range. Sure, human cloning might derive a new product, but it's currently not a feasible business. The ability to scale your production will also be necessary as competitors will race you to the top in a first mover economy.
Putting it all together. Let's say we are a defense company looking to make a positive difference immediately after a natural disaster:
- We take Cⁿ+Cⁿ (our solar powered air planes carry swarm drones packed with food/water to areas that need relief)
- Is that option supported by our Ei and √P? Yes (planes & drones are produced by existing infrastructure and their production will have a negligible impact on our profitability)
- Lastly, we divide by F (is the idea feasible in 5-10 years) and multiply by S (As costs drop further, we could scale this to a global system)
Now we have a real change making pattern! Our solar planes will fly to a relief area, air-drop 100's of drones packed with food/water. The drones will then fly the supplies to citizens in need; AND we can sell the whole package to the government as a part of a disaster relief program!
This somewhat basic example is how you can make The Profit Algorithm work. By building your pattern recognition skills in this way, you'll be able to make machines work for you. Now it's your turn:
- What technologies can you think of that are growing at an exponential rate?
- How can you combine them with another exponential platform?
- How can that combo deliver profit?
In my next post I'll tackle complex communication, and how this third skill will be critical for the coming decade of machines learning.
Want to learn about how machine learning is evolving to impact the future of your career? Find more at zacengler.com
Links to posts in this series & more:
1) Ideation
2) Large Frame Pattern Recognition
4) Future-proofing Your Career
5) A.I. Stepping Into Life Series
Follow Zac on Twitter: @zacengler