OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, launched on Thursday A mobile app on iOS that integrates Whisper, an open source speech recognition system, to enable voice input. Employees can use her ChatGPT for tasks such as generating ideas, summarizing notes, and helping with technical topics. Over the past few months, Microsoft has also announced new AI capabilities for apps in Microsoft Office, including email provider Outlook, word processor Word, and presentation maker PowerPoint. Similarly, Google released the vision and first features of a suite of tools for the workplace called Google Workspace. And they are not alone. Other workplace software providers that have recently announced AI integrations include Salesforce and Salesforce-owned Slack, Zoom, Box, Adobe, and HubSpot, to name a few.
Generative AI can help you draft emails with simple prompts, add meeting summaries and action items (even those you didn’t attend), create entire presentations with speaker notes and AI-generated images, screen long emails, and more. It is believed to help employees get the job done. Search threads and text to extract key points and highlight important patterns in data sets.
Google also recently demonstrated a video communication tool called Project Starline. This tool uses his AI to create a 3D image of a person’s girlfriend during a video call using several cameras and screens. The idea is to create a living presence for others, allowing for things like non-verbal cues and eye contact. When someone reaches out to you, the image appears as if the person’s arm is poking through the screen.
“It’s like you’re at the table… you feel like you’re with us,” said project general manager Andrew Natker.
Starline prototypes have been tested by Salesforce, T-Mobile, and WeWork to provide feedback for further development of features like Whiteboard. In my first-hand testing of this technology, I found it to be more immersive than your average video call. Still, it’s not perfect. In some cases, the image pixels flickered, similar to how virtual backgrounds malfunction in traditional video calls. And it’s too early to know if the experience could make people sick, as virtual reality does for some users. Google thinks it’s much more like watching 3D TV than using virtual reality because you don’t use a headset.
All of these features and products seem to make the same promise of making jobs easier and better with the help of AI. But what does this really mean for the everyday worker?
Microsoft leaders say this boils down to “we need to learn new skills for the AI era”.
“To stay relevant, you have to make sure your skills are valuable,” said Jared Spataro, corporate vice president of Modern Work and Business Applications at Microsoft. “Everyone should learn how to use AI and apply it to their role.”
And Spataro says this extends to roles beyond just the office. AI will eventually change the way we all work, he says. In terms of the time spent learning new technology, Spataro likens it to the process of learning to ride a bicycle. You may fall a lot, but you can get the hang of it and go faster and farther.
Kate Bezrukova, Dean and Associate Professor of Organization and Human Resources at the University of Buffalo Graduate School of Business, said: Before deploying AI tools, it is important for companies to carefully consider their employees’ comfort level with them.
She believes it’s important for workers to approach new tools with curiosity and a willingness to learn. Think of the time she spends learning new tools as an investment in the future, she says.
“I don’t want to be left behind,” she said of learning new AI tools. “This is probably a valuable skill in the future.”
That said, some tools may only be worth spending time on for specific uses. In some cases, the glow may just be a distraction. Bezrukova says you’re either willing to test which tools make the most sense for you, or give the market some time to work itself out.
“Things that are useful survive, but things that are not useful do not,” she says. “It will become clear soon.”
In the meantime, those of us at the helpdesk will take care of some falls from the face to keep you out of trouble. If you would like to compliment or share your experience with AI tools, feel free to email us. to yourhelpdesk@washpost.com.
I would be remiss if I didn’t highlight a few key pieces from my help desk colleague that you may have missed (but should definitely read). Please enjoy!
- Tatum Hunter informed us of a settlement reached with the Federal Trade Commission over allegations that pregnancy app Premom shared confidential user information with third parties without their consent.
- Chris Velazco explored a new feature Apple is releasing later this year that will allow iPhone users to teach their phones to speak with their own voice.
- Heather Kelly spoke about a new feature in the Uber app that will allow teens in some cities to hail a ride while allowing parents to track them.
- Heather can also help you navigate the latest settings you need to change to prevent your Facebook account from being hacked.
