The funny thing about robot leadership

Published in: The European Business Review - November 2020

The Funny Thing About Robot Leadership.png

Written by

Jamie Lee Gloor, Lauren Howe, David De Cremer and Kai Chi (Sam) Yam

Summary

What we found: Recent advancements in robotics are in­creasingly equipping machines with social skills, even complex abilities such as humor. We describe how robots equipped with soft skills could take on leader­ship tasks in the future.

Why it matters: Experts often presume leadership tasks are ‘safe’ from automation, as well as other jobs that re­quire more advanced social and emotional skills. But this is changing rapidly, offering new possibilities for incorporating technology at work.

What next: Rather than trying to ‘save’ leadership from automation, we should consider how socially skilled robots might take on some tasks to allow overburdened leaders to better focus their time.

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