Turns out Silicon Valley was intentionally built on the premise of disliking people.

The hiring blueprint in use since 1966 (yes, for more than 50 years) tells tech companies to choose engineers who ‘like puzzles but dislike people’
Nathan Ensmenger charts the resulting lack of social and emotional intelligence
A stunning new book from Katy Cook dissects the aftermath:

No surprise then that Big Tech makes its billions when it dehumanizes people.

And as we head into six weeks of Big Tech touting their takeover plans for “healthcare”, it’s worth noting that medicine is the opposite of that.

In a paid promotion written by the editor in chief of the conference organizer’s “editorial” outlet, Amazon is also trying to set the agenda — saying attendees should focus on: predicting patient health events, “personalizing” the health journey, and promoting interoperability.

Notice that Amazon is saying nothing about the quality quality of the data being used, the biases codified into both data and algorithms, or patient privacy.

Like puzzles but dislike people.

TODAY IN…

DEEP TECH:

Which companies plan to announce ‘AI chips’ this year
Google’s image-rehab spin is now in high gear. Their actions, however, continue to reveal the company’s true nature.

MEDIA & TELECOM:

Companies are beginning to pay employee ‘brand ambassadors’

HEALTHCARE TECH:

The HIMSS hysteria is starting early: KPMG: Healthcare IT will grow faster than overall healthcare and life sciences sector

FINANCE:

Airbus plans derivatives trading for airline tickets
BlackRock wants all companies to report under two standards – SASB and the TCFD. Will the rest of the asset management industry follow suit? … See also: The growing power of BlackRock and Vanguard poses a severe competitive threat to Wall Street’s biggest banks

PUBLIC POLICY:

The Trump Administration published a draft of its five-year Healthcare IT Strategic Plan. Doctors and medical organizations have voiced concern and called for Congressional oversight of the rule-making agency (the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology or ONC) ) … See also: The NIH is also revising its data-sharing policies

Everyone who’s anyone in the 1% will be in Davos for the 50th time tomorrow.

And finally…

Revealed: Silicon Valley intentionally hires…