Create music, produce art, or even become online idols, Artificial Intelligence (AI) programmes may perform tasks that are unimaginable to humans. However, technology is not the only factor in how society develops.

The greatest cutting-edge technology is always human intelligence

The introduction of the loom, the sewing machine, and the opening of the first Industrial Revolution in the late 18th and early 19th centuries completely transformed the textile industry, which had hitherto only relied on human labour.

However, over the years, the best designers have continued to use the flawless handcrafted design process to produce Haute Couture designs, the benchmark of high-end tailoring that frequently appears in Chanel, Hermes, etc. Thus, Haute Couture is more expensive and valuable than clothing that is mass-produced using industrial machinery.

There are worries that technology will eventually replace people as a result of the development of AI, particularly the current expansion of ChatGPT. However, if you take a look at the history of human progress, you will see that no matter how sophisticated a machine is, it will always lag behind the human mind.

Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels’ view of the history of human progress demonstrates that man did not create the ability to elevate work from physical to intellectual labour, any assistance stems from a person’s need for clothing, food, and shelter. People must discover ways to overcome nature as this requirement grows to boost labour productivity and production efficiency. It is the process of creating and renewing production tools.

Also Read: How Transparently.AI uses Artificial Intelligence to detect accounting manipulation, fraud

In actuality, humanity advanced from the Stone Age with crude tools used only for hunting and gathering through the Bronze Age to support agricultural production, and finally the invention of machines. the technological age continues now. It is claimed that all revolutions, including the 4.0 revolution, are fundamentally distinct from one another because super technologies that are capable of feats beyond human comprehension are created.

Therefore, humans will replace that equipment and technologies if they are unable to suit their needs in the future, not AI, robots, or any other technology.

No technology can replace emotions

Social relationships are created through human interaction, which has an impact not on technology but on the growth of people, companies, and ultimately the country.

Humans cannot yet be fully replaced by technology. Sophia, the first robot in the world to receive a citizen license, can answer questions fluently and with 50 different facial expressions, but she is still just a “speaking machine” and cannot evoke strong feelings in the audience the way Nick Vujicic or Michelle Yeoh can when they perform motivational speeches or sing like Michael Jackson.

Despite merely needing a few hours to create a painting that costs millions of dollars, artificial intelligence cannot satisfy collectors’ hunger like Leonardo’s paintings can, Picasso or da Vinci. 

The care, love, and education of parents cannot be replaced by technology, but it may improve how children play, learn, and are cared for. Sometimes, a subject’s teacher rather than the subject itself might pique a student’s interest or hatred in it.

Even technology’s negative aspects have negative effects on the physical and mental health of people. When everything is easily searchable on Google, as it is now with ChatGPT, technology might limit creativity.

When the home is equipped with smart technologies to assist, people are less active. Children become so engrossed in games and online applications on their phones and laptops that they neglect to engage with their peers and parents.

Also Read: Is ChatGPT a great invention or is it being ‘hyped’?

AI only scares you when you allow it

Social relationships are fundamentally based on the sharing of spiritual values. This engagement not only helps people or organisations grow, but it also advances the political and economic health of the nation.

It is challenging to create an organisation under the leadership of a boss who excels in his or her field but struggles to forge strong bonds with partners and staff. It is challenging to persuade clients to purchase from a company that offers quality goods and services but uses advertising and communication methods that fail to appeal to their emotions. Without maintaining social ties with other nations in the area and around the world, it is challenging for a nation to thrive.

Although it can support greater social interactions, technology cannot replace spiritual qualities. While the phone can minimise both physical and temporal distances, replacing handwritten letters, it is the emotions of the two individuals on the other end of the line that provides significance to the exchange. Modern lighting technology does not cause armed wars; rather, disputes about relationships between organisations and nations do.

Consequently, Vietnam’s perspective during the past 90 years has likewise been one of placing people at the heart of development, which is both a goal and a crucial driving force of growth. Additionally, educating the populace should be a key priority because they will be the ones to decide how to advance technology and employ it to further the socioeconomic growth of the nation.

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ASEAN Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors have discussed the possibility of reducing their reliance on the US Dollar and phasing out payment systems, such as Visa and Mastercard. This move could pave the way for implementing Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) and blockchain-based financial infrastructure in the region.

ASEAN and the US Dollar

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is an intergovernmental organisation promoting economic, political, and cultural cooperation among its ten member countries.

Historically, the US Dollar has played a significant role in financial transactions in the ASEAN region due to its status as a global reserve currency. However, recent geopolitical tensions and economic uncertainties have led ASEAN countries to reconsider their dependence on the US Dollar.

In addition, Visa and Mastercard have long been the dominant payment systems in the ASEAN region. Nonetheless, growing concerns over transaction fees, data privacy, and centralised control have led ASEAN Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors to consider alternative payment systems. ASEAN countries aim to promote regional economic integration and resilience by exploring new financial technologies.

Indonesia’s President, Joko Widodo, has urged local governments to use credit cards issued by local banks and gradually stop using foreign payment systems, such as Visa and Mastercard. He argued that Indonesia needs to protect itself from geopolitical disruptions, citing sanctions targeting Russia’s financial sector from the US, EU, and their allies over the conflict in Ukraine.

Also Read: Putting all your eggs in one basket?

“The use of local government credit cards, in this digital era, should be achievable. If we can use them, we can be self-reliant,” said Jokowi during the opening of the Domestic Product Business Matching in Jakarta Wednesday (15/3).

The potential of CBDC

One solution to reduce reliance on the US Dollar and centralised global payment systems is to optimise CBDC adoption and blockchain technology.

CBDCs are digital representations of a country’s fiat currency, issued and regulated by the central bank. CBDCs offer several advantages over traditional payment systems, including enhanced security, lower transaction costs, and increased financial inclusion. Additionally, CBDCs can help ASEAN countries reduce risks associated with excessive reliance on the US Dollar and strengthen regional currency cooperation.

Bank Indonesia (BI) is currently developing the use of CBDCs. Bank Indonesia Governor, Perry Warjiyo, mentioned that CBDCs are being developed as crypto assets requiring a reference unit of account from sovereign digital currencies.

Perry said CBDCs need to be promoted in ASEAN countries, along with the rapid development of crypto assets. Therefore, central banks are obliged to accelerate the growth of central bank digital currencies, including promoting CBDCs to the public and other ASEAN countries.

“We are obliged to accelerate the development of central bank digital currencies,” said Perry during a High-Level Seminar From ASEAN to The World, titled “Payment System in Digital Era,” quoted by Antara.

Embracing blockchain technology

Blockchain has the potential to revolutionise the financial sector. By adopting blockchain-based systems, ASEAN countries can enhance the efficiency and security of their financial transactions. This technology can also facilitate the development of new financial products and services, driving innovation and economic growth in the region.

“Blockchain and programmable money have opened a new era in the global financial system and cross-border digital payments. With unparalleled speed, security, and transparency, this technology creates a bridge that connects the world economy, eliminating barriers and empowering people to transact more efficiently and inclusively,” said the CEO of D3 Labs, Chung Ying Lai.

Also Read: How to venture into blockchain during a recession

“We believe that, through blockchain innovation and programmable money, we will create a more equitable and sustainable financial future for all.”

Challenges and concerns

Lai added that although CBDCs and blockchain technology offer promising opportunities for ASEAN countries, they must address several challenges and concerns. These include a solid regulatory framework, data privacy protection, and cybersecurity measures.

Furthermore, interoperability and collaboration among ASEAN countries will be crucial for successfully implementing this new technology.

Steps to reduce reliance on the US Dollar and abolish the centralised global payment system by ASEAN Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors reflect a growing interest in exploring alternative financial strategies.

“By embracing CBDCs and blockchain technology, the region has the potential to enhance its economic resilience and promote innovation. However, it is crucial to address related challenges and encourage regional cooperation to ensure the successful implementation of this new technology,” concluded Lai.

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“In the midst of every crisis, lies great opportunity.” — Einstein.

It doesn’t take the sheer intelligence of Einstein to understand that economic downturns actually accelerate a portion of companies, and market share and position radically reshuffle.

Research shows that twice as many companies make the leap from laggards to leaders during a downturn, compared to a period of economic calm. With all indications now that the economic environment is looking very choppy, how can we best plan and execute around “leading” and not “lagging”?

Consider three actionable, clear components to your strategy to out-position the competition.

“Those who tell stories rule society.” — Plato.

It’s always a noisy, crowded environment that you need to cut through and drive awareness in. In a crisis/downturn environment, it’s even noisier.   That means that there has never been a more critical time to have a compelling “story” and narrative as your core company positioning.

Think about this from a Point of View perspective.  Don’t lead your story with your product, company history or details.  Many companies make this mistake that leads to a boring, unengaging message.

What is the problem that your audience is wrestling with?  Or perhaps it’s a problem that your audience doesn’t fully realise that they have. Lead your narrative with this: it’s the problem that your audience will truly care about.  It’s clarifying your strategy around the problem you are solving, and weaving this strategy into a natural-feeling story and point of view.

Architect this point of view with a message house approach.   A very simple yet powerful way to not only structure your thinking and message but to also catalyse conciseness.   It has a roof (the problem) and three pillars: pillar one is the problem further detailed; then the solution (thus the middle pillar); and finally your company’s relevance and differentiation to deal with this problem and deliver the solution.

The message house is on a single word document page.  Not double-sided; not two pages.  One page.  If you can’t get your point of view into that structure and focus, then your audience is never going to fully listen to, and little alone “get” your message.

Also Read: What companies can do to stay agile in the future of work

Think differently, not just better.

Your Point of View can evolve, but at any given time it is the viral, consistent story that you, your team, and your marketing are based around.   It is one of the most powerful assets to leverage, especially during a volatile, challenging business environment.

The category is the new strategy

We are all wired for a category.  It’s a fundamental component of our consciousness, and continual sorting and organising.  It’s how we stay sane and interpret this noisy world.  There’s plenty of brain science and validation around this, but it is also self-evident if we take a step back and look at our business, that we are in a category, and will always be in a category.

In an economic downturn, pressures will mount on your customers to do more with less or to cut costs in your category of goods or services.   Most suppliers/vendors in a market category will chase this declining pie and set of economics.

That doesn’t sound very attractive, does it?  It is often referred to as “catching a falling knife” and that strategy is likely to lead to being a “laggard” and losing both total revenues as well as market share.

Rather, in this pivotal time as you plan for a choppy and volatile business environment, leverage both your Point of View, as well as your Category Strategy.

As you craft your Point of View, consider the opportunity to not only position for existing demand but to create new demand.   How is the problem evolving for your customers, given the environment is changing so much?   Describe the problem in a clear, visceral way, and engage and draw in your audience.  Get that “cut through” you desperately need in this environment.

At the same time consider the Category you are in.  How can you reframe it?  How can you describe this new Category, and why is it critical for your audience to understand it?

Also Read: The challenge for female leaders is to get their voices heard: Lisa Gibbons, Blockchain Advocate 

Remember that your Category will not stay static.   It may take time, even years for it to evolve, but it will change.  And in fact, it has a greater chance of radically changing during a downturn.   If you don’t redefine the category and the problem, then someone else will.

The fact is, you will always be in a category.

The question then is, do you want to define it?  Or let someone else do it?

Taking a step back and really analysing the category and your strategy, will inevitably also lead you to consider your category’s ecosystem.  A category cannot exist with just one company.   You need to have an independence of thinking to really map out the category’s entire ecosystem.  It will have many different players and influencers, from partners to government and regulatory, key analysts, key media, adjacent and connected technologies, and the list goes on.

You have the opportunity to think about a visual representation of your category’s ecosystem.   How will you map it and show it visually?  As you do this you will uncover new ideas about the ecosystem and its players.  A storyline will emerge around how you describe the ecosystem.

You will also begin to ask core execution and strategy questions such as: who on our team will “own” that slice of the ecosystem? (If you don’t have a responsible person/group for this, then that slice of the ecosystem won’t be proactively nurtured and managed); and how are you tracking the various members of your ecosystem?  How and where are you making progress?  Or where are your competitors focused in terms of the ecosystem players?  How are you building your “tribe” around the category you are defining?

“Your ability to thrive depends on the tribe.” — S. Perry

During a downturn, you need to take any resource and fully maximise it.  And there is no greater opportunity to do this than with your ecosystem, and to identify priority relationships.  To do this, you need to have it clearly mapped, have regular tracking of it, and have “throats to choke” who are responsible for specific ecosystem slices and players.

This enables your point of view to go further viral and leverage your ecosystem for this.   Show the visual of the ecosystem to the different members of it.  Make them excited and clear that they are part of this tribe, and there is a powerful, problem-led story to tell.

These three critical strategies around a powerful point of view; a clear category design and strategy; and a dynamic visualisation and tracker of your ecosystem are essential for not surviving, but thriving in an economic downturn.

Out-position the competition!

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Editor’s note: e27 aims to foster thought leadership by publishing views from the community. Share your opinion by submitting an article, video, podcast, or infographic

Join our e27 Telegram group, FB community, or like the e27 Facebook page

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The 2023 Echelon Asia Summit is happening at the Singapore EXPO on 14-15 June 2023. Are you a startup founder, investor, corporate, or tech enthusiast? Don’t miss out on one of the most anticipated tech conferences in the region! Get your tickets now! For more information, visit the official Echelon page.

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What is the latest update from micromobility company Beam?

In an email interview with e27, Co-Founder and CEO Alan Jiang revealed the most significant milestones that the company has made recently, starting with its US$93 million Series B funding round in early 2022–which he dubbed as a “significant stride” in Beam’s journey to growth and profitability.

“We’re particularly proud of being able to achieve both of these simultaneously in today’s macro environment,” Jiang explains.

Apart from that, the company has also doubled its footprint in eight countries in different regions, including Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Turkey, South Korea, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand.

“We also doubled our fleet size up to 60,000 vehicles, and most significantly of all, each of the three regions (North Asia, Southeast Asia, and ANZ) are already independently EBITDA profitable by a double-digit margin,” Jiang says.

This year, Beam has been confirmed as one of the companies that will be speaking at the Echelon Asia Summit 2023, June 14-15 at Singapore Expo. Before we get to hear what Jiang will share at the event, let us keep ourselves updated with what Beam has in store.

Also Read: H3 Dynamics decarbonises global aviation industry with multiple aerial mobility products

The following is an edited excerpt of the interview with Jiang.

In recent years, you have made significant milestones that include a Series B funding round and expansion into new markets. Is there any lesson that you can share with us from that experience?

We have been laser-focused on unit economics since Beam was founded five years ago.

Ensuring that we had great unit economics in place before we scaled up enabled us to achieve both growth and profitability at the same time.

The biggest challenge we see with startups that achieve growth through price discounts or negative unit economics is once those discounts go away, growth also shrinks. For us, as we add profitably deployed vehicles to our fleet, our P&L improves and achieving country-level profitability in each country was just a matter of growing into our fixed cost structure.

How do the back-to-back global crises that we are facing today affect your decision-making process? What major changes have you made?

We are fortunate that we have been focused on unit economics and profitability from Day One, so we are less impacted by the sentiment shift of growth vs profitability that we see in the venture ecosystem today. However, we are also an extremely capital-intensive business as we own and operate all our own assets. We do expect capital to get more expensive in the near term and this impacts where we invest. We are more focused on short-term cash flow today.

What opportunities do you aim to seize this year?

We are always in conversation with governments across APAC to discuss how Beam vehicles can help cities reduce congestion and pollution in cities, and improve first/last mile connectivity. Due to our positive unit economics and healthy balance sheet, we expect to be in a strong position to be able to invest in cities that embrace micromobility.

Also Read: The future of mobility is in public-private collaboration

What is your major plan this year?

We are focused on continuing our profitable growth trajectory in 2023 by continuing to invest in more vehicle deployments into all eight of our markets in APAC. We see micromobility as just scratching the surface in APAC, and we expect the popularity of EVs – especially shared EVs – to grow significantly in the coming years.

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Image Credit: Beam

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Selex Motors, a Vietnamese maker of electric two-wheelers and battery packs, has netted US$3 million in convertible notes from ADB Ventures, Touchstone Partners, and two foreign investment funds.

The company aims to utilise the funds to expand its two-wheeler production lines and set up battery-swapping systems in key cities in Vietnam, aiming to become the nation’s largest battery-swapping network provider.

Also Read: Validate the problem before building a solution: Surasit Sachdev of Hungry Hub

“This investment will provide us with a strong foothold in Vietnam and a platform for our expansion into other parts of the region,” said Selex CEO Nguyen Huu Phuoc.

Established in 2018, Selex produces electric two-wheelers and swappable battery packs that are purpose-built for large applications, including last-mile cargo delivery. Each gasoline motorbike replaced by a Selex electric two-wheeler can cut the emission of 0.45 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent a year, says ADB.

Its existing clients include regional delivery aggregators, such as Lazada and Grab, which require a single solution provider that can facilitate their transition to a cost-effective and reliable EV fleet with charging infrastructure to support their operations.

ADB Ventures invested in the Hanoi-based startup to reduce carbon emissions in high-usage applications, such as last-mile cargo and passenger transport in Vietnam.

“The electrification of road transport will have a profound impact on the automotive manufacturing and logistics sectors in Southeast Asia. We look forward to helping Selex to become an important regional player in the sustainable transport market in coming years,” said Suzanne Gaboury, ADB Director General for private sector operations.

Also Read: SEA’s VC landscape will soon get more specialised, says ADB Ventures

In December 2021, ADB Ventures provided a US$200,000 grant to Selex with an option to make an equity investment in the company.

ADB Ventures invests in early-stage technology companies that have significant potential to scale and deliver climate impact in emerging Asia and the Pacific.

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