Byte-sized AI: Its a little bit of snow!
I’m back for another Byte-sized AI issue, and as promised here are my three things: 😁
- Something techy from the news
- Something that made me laugh
- Something that you can do to improve how you work
📰 The one item of news:
Getting behind AI in a big way
This week we have seen the government get behind AI in a big way. This was inevitable whoever was in power, I think. There are a few obvious challenges here:
- AI adoption is slow because people are hesitant, fearing that it will displace all or part of their jobs. Now multiply that by the speed of government and it’s clearly going to take a long time.
- Governments don’t have a great record with IT projects. Despite the billions poured into NHS IT over the decades, they remain the world’s largest user of fax machines! So we live in an age where simultaneously people are building AI while their colleagues use 80s technology.
- And lastly, some estimates suggest that the planned scope will require an additional nuclear power station just to keep it going.
I support the idea, and I hope it succeeds. But this news has in some ways reinforced my view that AI adoption will be bottom up, not top down – it will be individual users and small and medium sized businesses who find ways to make it work productively, not central mandates. I confess a bias – that’s my area of interest after all – but I am really enjoying the process of making that happen in small ways.
😂 The one thing that made me laugh:
It’s a little bit of snow!
I’ve had little to make me laugh recently due to a two week long cold from Boxing Day. But there was a moment of irony in which I must concede my wife was right. Last Wednesday morning as the predictions of snow were on TV, she told me to put my wellies and a good coat in the car in case it breaks down. “Oh for goodness sake, it’s a little bit of snow and it’s a modern car! Stop fussing!”
Want to guess what happened half way up Detling Hill on the way home? Ho hum.
💡 The one thing you can do next week:
Copilot task lists
One for the Copilot users among you this time. Try this prompt: Using messages, emails, future appointments, recent meeting transcripts and content from Microsoft Goals, give me a task list for the week.
Obviously I can’t show you exactly the response I get but in terms of format it looks like this:
Monday.
- Catch up on messages: Schedule time to review and respond to messages at 5 PM.
Tuesday
- Business Central Technical Training Programme Session 07: Attend the training session from 8 AM to 10 AM.
- Dataverse Principles Day: Participate in the event from 9 AM to 4:50 PM.
- Catch up on messages: Schedule time to review and respond to messages at 10:30 AM.
- Project Update: Meet with —— from 11:30 AM to 11:55 AM.
- Marketing for Future Workplace: Discuss with Anita Glover from 2 PM to 3 PM.
Etc. Very useful!
By the way, a little follow up prompt (“If I do all those things, how long will it take me”) quickly surfaced that I have 12 hours and 15 minutes of work on Tuesday!
If you are interested to find out how AI, automation and all things clever can help your organisation why not take a look at Future Workplace, our super special IT consultancy service that can supercharge productivity, business efficiency and so much more.
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Check out past Byte-sized AI issues:
- Byte-sized AI: The machines have taken over Sainsburys
- Byte-sized AI: An extra brain in the room!
- Byte-sized AI: Up, up and… back down! 😕
- Byte-sized AI: Something special is happening in the UK!
- Byte-sized AI: A llama with AI and an admission!
- Byte-sized AI: Granny is here to make it all better!
- Byte-sized AI: Say hello to Claude
- Byte-sized AI: Its a little bit of snow!
