Take a load off

Good morning Staker! Here’s what’s cookin’ today. AI is helping improve workers lives in some sectors, luxury hotel brands are heading to sea, how to get the birdies to drop by, and the Eagles are finally set to land…permanently 🎸 

Let’s get into it!

Artificial intelligence is expected to displace between 6% and 7% of the workforce, according to an analysis by Goldman Sachs. However, it will also create jobs that don’t yet exist based on its ways of amplifying performance. One field which it’s already doing this is in radiology.

For example, radiologists have always reviewed scans manually in order to make their diagnoses. It’s an incredibly time-consuming and monotonous endeavor, making it difficult to triage those that need urgent attention. The field is already becoming much more efficient by training AI models to analyze those scans, freeing up doctors to do the most important and skill-based parts of their jobs.

“(AI) is not only not replacing those workers, but it’s actually increasing the amount of work they can do and increasing demand for their services,” said Jack Karsten, a research fellow at Georgetown’s Center for Security and Emerging Technology. “That’s sort of a bright future that the tech industry can point to as far as this is AI doing good in the economy.”

Summarizing reports, taking notes, and analyzing the data that underpins every X-ray, CT scan, MRI, etc. are all things AI can now do, enhancing a radiologist’s productivity.

“It’s something that doesn’t replace anyone, that just makes our job more efficient and more meaningful,” said Dr. Shadpour Demehri, who works in interventional radiology at Johns Hopkins Medicine.

The Ritz-Carlton began its private yacht service in 2022, with the 149-suite Evrima setting sail in an effort to attract the world’s top earners to cruising—a type of vacation the super wealthy typically avoid.

Two more jewels were added to the company’s fleet in 2024 and last year, with the respective launches of the Ilma (224 suites) and Luminara (226 suites). All three boats don the Ritz-Carlton logo on their hulls, which is an important part of the strategy.

“We are introducing people to cruising that would never have considered it, because they have a perception of what it is, and it’s not what they want,” said Tina Edmundson, president of luxury for Ritz-Carlton parent Marriott International. “But they are wanting to do it (with us), because it’s The Ritz-Carlton.”

These five star hotels on the high seas fall “in between luxury cruising and private yachting—that in-between space where our guest has the best of both,” Edmundson added.

The successful launch of the Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection has turned the heads of rival hoteliers. The Four Seasons I will launch next month, while the Orient Express’s Corinthian will set sail in June. Aman’s the Amangati will launch in spring of next year.

To give you an idea of how much luxury we’re talking about here, a suite on the Four Seasons I will run you at least US$25,000 for a week long voyage through the Greek Isles.

Care to hear more about exactly what you’d be paying for? You can read on here.

If you’re a bird enthusiast and enjoy watching them pay your backyard a visit, there are several ways to attract them.

Of course putting out a standard bird feeder or growing certain types of plants can do the trick, but one lesser known and extremely simple method is to dig a small hole for them to hop into.

According to ornithologists, this is particularly useful for attracting ground feeders like the American robin, bluebird, Northern cardinals, sparrows, and others. Seeds or earthworms aren’t always easy for them to spot in the yard, but a small hole can help expose a bird’s breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

“There are many birds that prefer to forage on bare or nearly bare ground,” says Maria Kincaid, an ornithologist from FeatherSnap. “Having a bare or nearly bare patch of ground allows for birds to forage for insects and seeds in the soil bed that have been exposed.”

On top of that, a little patch of exposed dirt can help birds clean themselves by making it easier for them to bathe in the soil.

“Build-up of too much oil can be detrimental, and this is where dust bathing helps,” says Kincaid. “They’ll find dry patches of soil, sand, or sometimes even ash, and 'bathe' in it, getting the dirt to all their feathers, which binds with the excess oil and is shaken off or removed with further preening, often taking parasites with it.”

If the sketch above looks like something you’ve seen before, you must be familiar with the nine biblical scenes painted onto the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel by Michelangelo.

The artistic phenom was hard at work from 1508 to 1512, and he seldom attempted to paint anything onto the actual ceiling without practising several times on sketch paper or rough draft canvases.

The owner of this sketch knew it might be worth something, given it had been in his family for more than 200 years. After submitting it to the Christie’s valuation portal, he was told it could be worth a million dollars. It ended up selling for $27.2 million.

Michelangelo had sketched it out of red chalk while preparing to paint the Sistine fresco featuring the Libyan Sibyl. The auction house was able to identify the sketch’s origins by identifying its identical twin painted on the ceiling of the chapel: toes pressed down; heel off the ground; small of the foot considerably arched.

“Standing in front of this drawing, one can grasp the full power of Michelangelo’s creative force; we can almost feel the physical energy with which he rendered the form of the foot, pressing the red chalk vigorously onto the paper,” said Giada Damen, a specialist in Christie’s Old Master Drawings Department who was responsible for identifying the sketch artist.

Eagles drummer and co-founder Don Henley says 2026 is probably the final year the Eagles will play and even exist.

He was asked point blank on CBS Sunday Morning the other day if this would be the band’s final year, to which he said, "I think so, yeah. And I am OK with that. I feel like we're getting toward the end, and that will be fine, too."

Aside from it being the sixth decade the Eagles are playing music in, Henley also said it’s time to pack it in “because I would like to spend more time with my family, and I would like to spend more time growing vegetables."

The band has nine scheduled dates this year, all of which are either on a Friday or Saturday, and eight of which are at the Vegas Sphere, where the Eagles continue to extend the venue’s longest-ever residency. They first played the iconic concert hall in Sept. 2024, and will do so again during the final two weekends of February and March.

As it stands today, the last scheduled concert—possibly of all time—for the Eagles will be on May 2 at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival.

Two-fer

Time to double down, with today’s trivia 🤣 If you know your TV couples, you’ll do just fine!

Complete the game and earn a shot at a $25 eGift Card ;)

Winner will be notified on Wednesday afternoon. Keep an eye on your inbox and don’t forget to check your spam folder!*