Stanford, California – April 3: Google CEO Sundar Pichai speaks during Stanford business, … more
Below are five high-tech things that happened this week and how they affect your business. Have you missed them?
This week's business technology news
Business Technology News #1 – Google CEO talks with Podcaster Lex Fridman about AI and products.
In an extensive interview with Podcaster's Lex Fridman, Google CEO says he has optimism that humanity can work together to address potential challenges, while acknowledging the risks associated with artificial intelligence. He advocated a balance between rapid innovation and ethical considerations to ensure that technological advancements benefit society as a whole. He also shared insights into emerging technologies such as Google Beam and XR glasses.
Why this is important to your business:
Google has a great reach both our personal and professional lives. One of my favourite podcasters, Fridman, who delved deep into AI, also discussed the status and future of many business products that Google offers, from ads and searches to Gmail, sheets, maps, documents, encounters, and future innovations in robotics and research. If your business is dependent on using Google applications and most of the time – this is an important conversation to better understand where your company is heading, and you can prepare to take advantage of your new product.
Business Technology News #2 – Former accounting software founder launched Glassjar and fixed what QuickBooks was wrong.
Glassjar, a new accounting software company, was launched by former accounting software founders to address years of complaints about Quickbooks and similar legacy tools. The company aims to provide simple and transparent solutions for small and medium-sized businesses and accountants. Key features: A streamlined user experience to reduce bookkeeping times and eliminate boring workarounds. Fast performance with no crashes or latency when processing large datasets. Flexible pricing, as users pay only for what they need. Glassjar is currently under private development and plans are available for public beta later this year. The company invites small businesses, bookkeepers and accountants to sign up for Early Access. (Source: Business Wire)
Why this is important to your business:
Getting Intuit in the accounting space for small businesses is actually David vs. Goliath Challenge. How good an accounting application should be to change users from existing software? The competition is good and I'm interested in checking out what Glassjar has to offer. But they have a big challenge in front of them – and the industry of refurbished, risk-free dosage accountants to become an audience that is hard to persuade.
Business Technology News #3 – Anthropic's AI writes its own blog with human surveillance.
Anthropic has released an explanation for Claude. This is a blog written primarily by AI model Claude and is under human surveillance. This blog focuses on technical topics and presents Claude's ability to generate educational content. Human editors improve and enhance Claude's draft before publication. This blog aims to demonstrate AI-Human collaboration rather than replacing human expertise. Topics range from creative writing to data analysis and business strategy. Humanity sees this as an example of how AI can enhance and replace human work. “This is more than just a vanilla claude output. The editing process requires human expertise,” said a human spokesman. (Source: TechCrunch)
Why this is important to your business:
I use ChatGpt to create a blog for my site, but of course I don't just publish it from a chatbot. First, a human reviews and edits the output. It may be more accurate as Claude hasn't explained it. You can see that clients are beginning to select AI weapons. ChatGpt is still the most popular, but there is a bunch dedicated to Claude, Grok, Copilot, Gemini and more. I'm sure the other chatbots will soon explain what Claude will offer so that he doesn't fall behind in their followers.
Business Technology News #4 – The new countdown feature in the four productivity superpower Microsoft Teams offers users.
Microsoft Teams introduces a countdown timer feature to help users manage meeting times more effectively. This long-term tool is intended to improve meeting structure, presenter performance, and overall productivity. Key benefits include structured meetings, eliminating the need for third-party timers and allowing organizers to set visible countdowns within their teams. Better presenter performance to help speakers stay on track without relying on external time cues. Control and flexibility allow organizers to pause, stop or extend timers when needed. Enhanced productivity culture encourages teams to be more aware of time and reduces unnecessary meeting overruns. (Source: Today's UC)
Why this is important to your business:
I found that, just as we hate meetings, some of my corporate clients know they're not good at keeping them in 30 minutes. For others who need a little more help, the tools the team currently offers seem very useful.
Business Technology News #5 – AI chatbots offer minimal productivity gains, research found.
New research finds that AI chatbots are being adopted at unprecedented rates, but the impact on workplace productivity remains modest. Research shows that AI chatbots save only about 3% of their users on average. Increased productivity rarely leads to wages, with wages only improving by 3-7%. Despite rapid recruitment, AI chatbots have not had a major impact on revenue or recorded working hours. However, the report noted that previous studies showed productivity gains of over 15%. This study suggests that AI chatbots can help streamline tasks, but the broader economic impact is still unknown. (Source: ComputerWorld)
Why this is important to your business:
There is no doubt that AI chatbots can one day significantly increase productivity. What's used correctly is to generate blogs (see above), create and review contracts, create policies, run searches, and run searches much faster than a typical Google search. So, what is the hold-up? Hallucination. People I know don't trust their output, so human monitoring, verification and modifications are always necessary. Therefore, anything that is stored will be offset by the extra time required to catch and correct the error. You know this will improve, right?
Each week I select five business technology news stories and are included in this column and include my thoughts on how they affect small businesses.
