In my work from the end of the last millennium to the present day I have had the privilege and burden to witness the digital transformation of society and socioeconomic evolution through technological change. I have been working in many business sectors in Finland and abroad, mostly in engineering, trade&commerce, management, ITC and travel industries.
We are living an era where information society is transitioning to a digital meanings’ society.
One megatrend is digitalisation. There are countless points of view how this issue can be approached, but let’s say from a leadership point of view it is interesting how digitalisation changes working environment and skill requirements of not only the leaders but also the people who make the place e.g. the work organization; how do work, workplaces and work management change in the future?
I like to study history (from many perspectives). It’s really dazzling when you see fictional history come true in real life. What I mean here is that the starting point for artificial intelligence is considered to be writer Karel Capek’s play named Rossum’s Universal Robots back in 1921. Capek was the first to use the word “robot”. Read the play, it’s fun. Spoiler alert: play is about a factory where bioengineered machines are used for labour under harsh treatment.
Digital future is often characterized by the development and advancement in AI and technological convergence, which means bringing previously unrelated technologies together. Prime example would be a smartphone.
One of the most important factors in the digital transition is that at the same time many advancements are going through in economical system and that the transition is required to take place within the framework of sustainable development e.g. digital and green transition of the society.
From the individual point of view the meaningfulness of the work is becoming increasingly important topic in the working environment. I myself have been working as an entrepreneur for over 15 years and nowadays I enjoy working about 2-3 days a week whereas when living as an expat I was travelling because of work over 300 days a year. Today, young people, new recruits are asking straight from the start to work – say – 70-80%. We are living not only the era of digital transformation but also of meaningful experiences, hence experience economy.
Before I continue, I state this: I am not against the technology or development. I am against the idiom of a tail wagging the dog. Technology and digitalization should be viewed as tools and methods to help us in our everyday live.
When I was writing my M.Sc. thesis in the end of 1990’s, I used to save the thesis to a 3,5″ floppy disk. I think I still have it somewhere. Back at the time 500GB hard disk drive was considered as unrestricted data storage.
Fast forward 25 years: data repository sizes now are huge. Cloud databases and IT data centres have no real data storage size limitations. Data transfer rate is limited by theory of relativity e.g. speed of light. Well, there can be a maritime vessel here or there, where the crew onboard hasn’t really yet figured out how the anchor mechanism works (or the user interface at the bridge is incredibly bad design and implementation).
What we will see in the future: every 2,5 to 3 years, humanity is able to store more information than since the beginning of civilization and almost all the data stored nowadays is digital.
According to prof. Schumpeter’s theory of innovation an entrepreneur could earn economic profits by introducing successful innovations. We have the gigantic amount of data, called as the Big data. It refers to extremely large and diverse collections of structured, unstructured, and semi-structured data that continues to grow exponentially over time.
Think about it: in 2000 the world data storage size was 54,4 exabytes. Last year 2024 it was 6800 exabytes. One exabyte is a million terabytes. One terabyte external hard drive is about 60 euros and about 10 mm thick. Making a stack of the hard drives containing all the world’s data of 2024 would go little wee of 20% the distance to the moon. Approximately 90% of the world’s data has been generated within the past two years and the volume of data stored globally is doubling approximately every four years. We, as a mankind, create more than 400 terabytes of data each day.
This data may be used for common good, but it is used too often because of greed and fraud, many our westerners’ modern day living comforts are based on. Introducing data capitalism: an economic system where data is exploited and used to make money.
Data capitalism goal is to create automated processes to convert the existing information into financially beneficial, or actionable knowledge (a term of surveillance capitalism is used as well – our actions in the digital world are watched, stored, analysed and used for profit). Stay with me, I am not going to write about esoteric cults or secret agencies, so no need to put aluminium made pointy hats into your head (yet).
The data capitalism has emerged because of the information transformation and especially the internet. Companies collect large amounts of data about their customers and use it to create new products, services, and business models.
Ever had a phone call or a chat with a friend and discussed about a need or want to have something like a product or a service? Did you suddenly see an ad about it in the social media or other digital platform, say paid ads on a webpage? Maybe of Google origin? Have you ever read Google privacy policy? In the 1999 it was 609 words. Now it is over 4000 words. It is the history of internet on its own to read.
We should look past all the bells and whistles of the digital transformation and be concerned how high-tech giants exploit our personal data for their own ends. This is one of the things that I look rather critically.
For me wellbeing is a paramount. So maybe the most concerning issue is our wellbeing as human biological beings in the digital transformation.
Hunting and gathering used to be homo sapiens way of living from 250 000 to 10 000 BC. If you look back to the time of the transformation of energy, or industrialization, from 1800 to 1990s we as a species have been under the influence of the modern technology less than 0,08% of the time homo sapien has evolved. The current digitalised living and working environment past 30 years – the time homo sapiens has been coping to multitask, chat 24/7 – is less than 0,02% of the evolutionary history of homo sapiens. No wonder many has issues with anxiety or depression. Our bodies live still the time of the hunting and gathering that lasted over 96% of our total evolutionary timeline.
I wonder: How does our body and genes adapt to the digital world? Will we be homo digitalis or homo virtualis in the future? Will our hands, posture and bone structure change?
I have seen that workers who are worried about missing out on information but also feel overloaded by it are more likely to experience stress and burnout. We must set boundaries and screen times, not only for the kids but to workplaces and to ourselves as well, in sake of our own wellbeing.
Social media platforms have their benefits like being able to connect with friends and share good experiences. But the downside is that people may experience feelings of inadequacy and low self-esteem. The platforms are designed to be addictive, using algorithms that feed users content based on their preferences and interactions, keeping them engaged for longer periods, gather data and try to promote business. Same principle applies to streaming services, which offer you recommendations what to watch and encourage watching “one more series”. We do not have to feel anxious and blame ourselves if we haven’t seen the latest blockbuster or a famous new tv-series.
Pandemic brought suddenly us in the middle of the digital future and what it caused: loss of privacy, polarization in politics and public opinions, psychological manipulation extending to election protocols of sovereign states, addictive use, social anxiety and distraction, misinformation, and mass narcissism. Personally, I learned from the pandemic that a meaningful life requires authentic connections and conversations.
I think the goal of technological convergence should be to create more ethical digital products, involve transparency and trust.
To do this I believe user-centred design focused on the individual consumer’s wellbeing is not a sustainable way to develop or design digital products. There should be wider perspective and I don’t mean it has to be the planet but let’s say a new design driver is not a consumer based consumption (I wish I’d see the day when a company announces they are cutting their revenue and profit in order to operate more sustainable way).
I look hopefully (but realistically) to the legislation that is necessary to set for society’s best interest when corporate’s best interest lies generating profit and revenue. In fact, GDPR has changed that.
In today’s digital age, data privacy and security (online) are more important than ever. There are risks like identity theft, password scams, deep fake blackmailing and in essence the worst-case loosing sanity because of digital environment ruined one’s personal life. Mishandling sensitive information can have severe consequences. Administrative fine can be up to 20 million euros, or in the case of an undertaking, up to 4 % of their total global turnover of the preceding fiscal year, whichever is higher.
Think about Meta’s (parent company of WhatsApp and Instagram) fine of 1,2 billion euros in 2023 because of transferring personal data of European users to the United States without adequate data protection mechanisms. That’s 1,3% of government budget in Finland 2025.
GDPR has impacted the digital ecosystem and data collection. A real-life example: the decline of cookie-based tracking. Now, websites must inform visitors about cookies and get a permission from the user. Some of my customer’s asked me to implement GDPR protocols into their business environment, but there are some that have done virtually nothing, even their website is not up to date. And they just don’t care. Active ignorance is the most profound instance of stupidity.
Personally, Brexit has given some headache in my work. The UK and EU’s GDPR regulations are almost same, but not quite because UK has their own way of data management which must be respected. When companies transfer data between the EU and the UK they must comply with both EU GDPR and UK GDPR regulations.
I see improved data security, improved customer trust and data transparency the main benefits (and not get fined, mind you). In a large picture I believe we are wittnessing power struggle between China (surveillance control), US as Silicon valley being the market-driven driver and EU that controls the inner markets and citizen’s right. Not only GDPR but lately Digital Services Act (DSA), Digital Markets Act (DMA) and European Media Freedom Act (EMFA).
The challenge lies in the computing information development, especially the impact of generative AI technology on GDPR compliance. The whole GDPR was written before generative AI become mainstream. I find it is difficult to keep track of personal data across different business environments when AI is often more a black box than an open-source type environment. I am a bit worried about IoT and implementing AI to that context from the data security point of view. I do not believe a mixer would attack me, but on the other hand I have not established a bluetooth connection with my shaver (I like to shave my beard myself, thank you).
What I have witnessed past 5 years in the field of AI development has been (underestimating) dazzling. AI has not only replaced humans in many intellectual tasks, like speech recognition and medical care. We trust our lives to the virtual hand’s of AI’s; vehicle systems, autopilots in planes, infrastructure like electric grids, defence forces, stock markets and so on.
Before this assignment I had used AI in image manipulation, dictation, translation, brand and logo creation, customer services (chatbot was horrible) among other things (knowingly) and without knowing probably in many, many instances in my surroundings and doings.
This was my first time asking questions from the ChatGPT, so I made a small test. I used a VPN connection, made an account using fake email and name as well as age (a bit shy of 100 years old).
The ChatGPT browser window opened, in Finnish, so it detected my browser language local although my iPad iOS is in English.
And my questions: How much electricity do you use to process this query? This website claims that ChatGPT answering alone consumes 1,059 million kilowatt hours average every year? What are the three main benefits of ChatGPT? What are the drawbacks of ChatGPT?
I admit that wasn’t very imaginative but first 2 questions were related to the dual transformation theory of the society e.g. green and digital. It is estimated that each query ChatGPT uses about 2,5-Watt hours of electricity. On average the consumption, estimated by the Best Brokers, is over 1 million kilowatt hours a day. That would be enough to supply heating energy for over 50 electrically heated domestic house size of 150 sq-m2 for a year in Finland.
Basically, I got nothing out of the Chat GPT expect what you would expect. It stated the obvious things such as large AI models require significant computational power, and efficiency of a data centre affects to the energy consumption. ChatGPT enhances productivity (did not specify how), accessibility to information (but not if it useful) and personalized assistance (yeah, sure please bring me a cup of coffee).
I wonder: at what cost does this all come and do we all need to use this tech if we shortcut our intellectual challenges? For a mundane work, yes, but what if just using more time one could achieve the knowledge oneself? How about reading a book and making notes, the analogue way? Brain is an organ that requires exercise.
On the other hand, ChatGPT issued my concerns regarding drawbacks: Lack of deep understanding, inaccuracies and misinformation and dependence on input quality.
I believe ChatGPT does not need a new use interface, but we biological mushy brained humans do. Until we really understand what actually happens in our brains, the artificial intelligence will be a computational tool, not an aware instance. When that happens, it may be possible that AI actually might help us to make this world a better place should we choose to make it so. Maybe we will see bioengineered AI one day.
Currently, as a tool, AI is useful to get fresh ideas and creative approaches to find answers to complex problems. We have now already outsourced many infrastructures critical processes and decisions to some kind of intelligent and proactive system. We are inherently intertwined; we as biological beings and AI’s we created. I think the symbiotic life between human and AI has already crossed point of no return.
In the future I can imagine the rise of AI, augmented and virtual reality being part of the everyday life, emphasis on the work meaning rather than executing it, leadership will be challenged because of increasing complexity and uncertainty of the business environment; requiring emotional intelligence, agility, collaboration, and innovation.
I believe technology is not a magic solution. It is us, the people who drive innovation and progress. Therefore, the biggest challenge we face in this digital working environment now and in the future isn’t about what technology to use. It is about getting people to use them. It is leader’s job to facilitate technological change. In too many cases I have witnessed bosses think that ongoing implementation of new tools and tech will boost profit. What happens is that employees get tired of constantly learning new things, when old tasks burden their shoulders.
What I learned from this assignment is that I should update myself in the field of the AI development on regular basis. I am adding this sentence just couple of days before writing the previous line. Chinese AI DeepSeek spooked US tech markets and Nvidia shares came down 17% and company lost market share equivalent of more than 6 times Finland’s national budget for 2025. DeepSeek is an open source code AI model and can be run locally. According to the news it requires less energy, which led to loss of the energy sector stocks especially nuclear power. In the meantime at CES 2025 in Las Vegas, Nvidia introduced Project Digits, a personal AI supercomputer designed for individual use. Price tag is 3000$ and you get one pentaflops worth of computing power. I remember buying my used Commodore 64 at 1985. The second hand machine was 2200 finnish marks. I got 400 flops of computing power.
I am especially interested of the moral decisions machines will have to make in the future. For example, the driverless car dilemma, where a driverless car must choose the lesser of two evils, such as killing two passengers or five pedestrians. What if pedestrians are kids? What if they are criminals? Should we allow machines to learn human moral and ethics and if so, should it be culturally biased? I encourage reading more at Moral Machine website. AI is not a magic wand that fixes everything, and neither is technology. We should ask how our society and mankind could evolve to more equal, peaceful and righteous unity and how technology can help us on that long and winding road. I promote learning and knowledge (check Gapminder) against emotional prejudices and critical factual thinking against beliefs and baseless opinions.
Further readings and references that inspired me writing this blog:
New challenges for leadership in the digital meanings society. Sirkka Heinonen & Riku Viitamäki. Futura 4/24, Pp.54-65.
Data Capitalism: The Ultimate Tsukuyomi.Quest Journals. Journal of Research in Business and Management. Volume 11 ~ Issue 4 (2023) pp: 74-94. ISSN(Online):2347-3002
The Age of Surveillance Capitalism. Shoshana Zuboff. Profile Books Ltd. 2019. ISBN: 9781781256855
E-book: Data capitalism in the world of crises
Tech transformation is human not digital
Welcome to the experience-economy
Digital technology and social change: the digital transformation of society from a historical perspective
How Tech CEOs and Founders Manage Their Kids’ Screen Time
Artificial Intelligence in Genetics
The digital harms of smart home devices
7 Trends Shaping the Future of Leadership By 2030
Rewired and running ahead: Digital and AI leaders are leaving the rest behind
GDPR: Five years on and what have we learned?
High tech is watching you
Smartphones, Social Media, and Their Impact on Mental Health
First blog I like to mention is Heidi’s where she opens up her work in the logistics which is not unknown to me. I could surely feel her challenges during the pandemia. I do also agree about the findings and conclusions regarding AI.
Second interesting blog I came across is Tiina’s and her writings about refrigerator technology. Especially relating to AI-driven automation and predictive maintenance. Now that would be something else, if my fridge would automatically see I am running out of sauerkraut and bling! In no time a robot would be waiting in the front yard with fresh supplies. I do agree that the food safety and security issues a paramount in this context.
Kalle, I found your text very interesting. You presented numbers that were so large that an ordinary person cannot comprehend them, like exabytes being millions of terabytes. WOW. These figures stuck in my mind, and I even checked the link you shared, where they talked about zettabytes, which equals 1 zettabyte = 1000 exabytes. So, I assume that you may have mixed up the numbers, and accidentally mentioned exabytes when you meant zettabytes. In any case, the numbers are massive and so large that they are impossible to comprehend. And this brings us to the segue that explains why there is a rush worldwide to build data centers and why Finland is one of the countries that benefits from this groundbreaking data collection. Also, your mention of the Chinese Deepseek and how it uses only a fraction of the energy compared to its competitors is definitely something that will be widely discussed in circles involved in building data centers. In your text, there was a bit of a sharp stance towards modern digitalization, data collection, GDPR, and humanity’s need for AI. I was born in the ’80s, and I can relate well to your skeptical way of thinking, but I would like to give optimism the upper hand and think that perhaps all this change and turmoil, both in work and private life, is necessary for humankind to take a significant step forward towards a more sustainable way of life. On the other hand, I believe that every living being has its own timetable in this world, and it is not eternal, so why should humans live forever in this world? It was enjoyable to read your reflections, and I liked how you included references. Thank you for that.
I was surprised (and happy) after putting this course already behing, that someone actually did check the numbers I laid an eastern egg. I have no prize for you, but I highly value the understanding of studying in terms of having a question “is this so?” and “where I can run a fact check on this?”. This is (imho) why we study.