Microsoft unveiled exciting updates for Copilot Studio during Ignite, enhancing user experience and functionality across its platforms. This is great news for business and enterprises and makes it easy to create copilots, agents and more.. https://blogs.microsoft.com/blog/2024/11/19/ignite-2024-why-nearly-70-of-the-fortune-500-now-use-microsoft-365-copilot/ Highlights 🚀 Introduction of new AI features to streamline workflows. 🛠️ Enhanced customization options for Copilot tools. 📊 Improved data integration for better analytics insights. 🧠 Advanced natural language processing capabilities. 🌐 Integration with additional Microsoft 365 applications. 🔒 New security measures to protect user data. 🎓 Training resources made available for developers. 📅 Roadmap for upcoming features shared with the community. 🤝 Partnership announcements to extend Copilot’s reach. 🎤 Live demos showcasing practical applications of updates. 🔄 Feedback mechanisms introduced for user suggestions. 🌟 Focus on improving accessibility for all users. 📈 Emphasis on optimizing performance and efficiency. 💡 Insights on how AI can transform business productivity. 🖥️ New tools for developers to create custom Copilot experiences.

Pretty wild to watch some of the videos that customers have shared, being charged for 200 orders of chicken McNuggets and things like that, when the AI order bot was struggling especially with accents or customers ordering Pepsi Co drinks when they only serve Coca Cola made beverages. I am quite surprised that this was so bad, on the other hand with the number of order going through these drive-throughs I suspect that by-and-large it was working "okay", just the errors when they happened were so egregious that they had to pull the whole thing. The other thing that surprises me is that how it could have been so bad actually. The domain is very narrow and when you contrast with the incredible quality of voice transcriptions from online meetings its somewhat unlikely. Of course the environment is different, with traffic and other background noise. At the same time: my partner and I have been recording conversations that we have while going on city walks in Hong Kong and those transcribe amazingly well with OpenAI's Whisper. Ok, IBM is not OpenAI, but that the gap could be that big is a surprise to me. https://www.cnbc.com/2024/06/17/mcdonalds-to-end-ibm-ai-drive-thru-test.html

Bloomberg has reported that the retail giant- WALMART -is using a chatbot from Pactum AI to automate vendor negotiations. Walmart feeds its budgetary constraints and information about its goals into the program, and then leaves the chatbot to work out the agreement. Amazon and Walmart Use GenAI to Cut Vendor Costs (pymnts.com)

Apple announced several advancements in artificial intelligence at WWDC 2024. The new Apple Intelligence feature enables devices to understand and create language and images, simplifying interactions across apps. It also includes powerful writing tools and the ability to create original images. Siri has been enhanced with deeper integration, onscreen awareness, and improved language understanding. The system-wide writing tools can help with rewriting, proofreading, and summarizing text. Apple Intelligence also improves email and notification management. The Genmoji feature allows users to create personalized emojis. The Image Playground app offers a range of concepts for creating images. The Notes app includes the Image Wand tool for transforming sketches into polished images. Apple Intelligence provides enhanced photo editing, video search, and the ability to create personalized memories. Additional features include audio recording and transcription, integration with external AI models like Chat GPT, and future support for other AI models. Highlights 📱 Apple Intelligence enables devices to understand and create language and images 💬 Siri has been enhanced with deeper integration, onscreen awareness, and improved language understanding ✍️ System-wide writing tools help with rewriting, proofreading, and summarizing text 📧 Email and notification management have been improved 😀 Genmoji feature allows users to create personalized emojis 🎨 Image Playground app offers a range of concepts for creating images 📝 Notes app includes the Image Wand tool for transforming sketches into polished images 🖼️ Enhanced photo editing, video search, and personalized memories 🎙️ Audio recording and transcription in the Notes app 🔌 Integration with external AI models like Chat GPT 🤝 Future support for other AI models

Interesting news out of Singapore, surely with heavy element of publicity seeking. The corporate lawyer in me has many questions about this. Surely being 'Chief X Officer' does not mean also being a board member (which was reported some places), and beyond the usual suspects of Finance, HR, Product, ... one can probably have any 'Chief X Officer' one desires, but I do wonder, fr example: - whether the Singapore corporate laws have anything to say about this; - whether the SEC (as responsible for the company's New York Stock Exchange public listing) has thoughts on this; - how this would work in practice re D&O insurance, decision making, etc... Interesting times! https://ir.geniusgroup.net/news-events/press-releases/detail/131/genius-group-appoints-alan-turing-ai-as-chief-ai-officer