The week's developments on automation & the workplace, explained | 10.06.24

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Some say the future belongs to those who prepare for it today. But when that future involves AI automation, it's safe to say that most of us still maintain a healthy dose of apprehension. Despite this, a recent Microsoft and LinkedIn study suggests that mastering AI skills could soon be crucial for landing our dream jobs. For knowledge workers, the era of the GenAI power user could be just around the corner.

Elsewhere, we explore Zoom founder Eric Yuan's vision for AI in meetings, take a look at the future of enterprise automation, and cover how you can create your own talking AI avatar. 

Discover these stories and more below — including our productivity boosters, designed to help you thrive in the AI-driven workplace.

— Charlie and the Research and Intelligence team

P.S You are now able to sign up for the super early bird offer (75% off) to the CogX AI Summit in London on October 7th here.

Top Story

 🤖 AI at work is here, and it could help you land your dream job

A new Microsoft and LinkedIn study reveals AI aptitude could soon be the key factor for landing a job. With generative AI on the rise, employers are prioritising candidates with strong AI skills, potentially even over experience.

Equipping yourself for the future is crucial: Hiring managers are increasingly prioritising AI expertise. In fact, two-thirds say they'd choose a less experienced candidate with AI skills over a seasoned one without.

The reason? GenAI is booming. Over 75% of knowledge workers already leverage AI tools, many bringing their own to work. Managing workload and tackling repetitive tasks are popular uses.

AI power users are also on the rise: Workers are actively upskilling, with LinkedIn courses seeing a 160% surge in AI training for non-technical professionals. 

The takeaway? If the research findings are anything to go by, then becoming an AI power could be the key to future-proofing your career. Start by experimenting with different ways to use AI and recognise how the technology could help you save time and enhance productivity at work.

Also in the News

👨🏻‍💻 The future is … sending AI avatars to meetings for us, says Zoom boss. In 5-6 years, Zoom founder Eric Yuan predicts AI avatars trained on your voice and behaviour could attend meetings on your behalf. This "digital you" could free up time for more personal interactions and a better work-life balance.

🦾 Asana introduces ‘AI teammates’ designed to work alongside human employees. These AI colleagues - designed using a "human-in-the-loop" approach - won't automate you out of your job.  Instead, they'll learn from your workflow, handle repetitive tasks, and even nudge colleagues when projects stall.

Prompt of the Day

Example:

Act like you're an experienced customer service representative. Write an email apologising to Emily for failing to deliver her order on time. Offer her a voucher for 20% off her next order and free shipping. Keep the tone sincere and apologetic and use clear, concise language.

AI & Automation

🤖 Want a personalised AI assistant? Anthropic is releasing a new feature for its AI chatbot Claude called “tool use”. It will allow users to create custom bots to handle tasks like buying shoes and replying to emails.

🤔 How to create your own AI avatar videos: Israeli startup D-ID has launched Chat D-ID, a new tool that uses ChatGPT to animate text with a talking avatar. Users can further personalise the experience by uploading their own photos or AI-generated images.

💼 The future of enterprise automation? Tektonic, a US-based startup, has just raised $10m to develop smarter GenAI agents that can understand natural language and adapt to specific workflow situations.

🤝 Chatbot teamwork makes the AI dream work: Researchers are experimenting with "multi-agent" systems, where AI chatbots collaborate to tackle problems. While still in its early stages, this approach shows promise in overcoming individual model limitations and boosting overall effectiveness.

Productivity Boosters

Check out this week's top AI tools to supercharge your productivity

	Formshare is a user-friendly, no-code platform that enables the creation of engaging, conversational AI forms, surveys, and quizzes   Key Features: Natural language input for question creation Automatically crafts interactive, dynamic forms Instant sharing via unique links                                                     Pricing Model: Free
	Intellisay is a voice-activated AI productivity tool that streamlines task creation, management, and scheduling through spoken commands   Key Features: Voice-activated productivity tool AI-powered transcription and analysis Create tasks and events by speaking                                                     Pricing Model: Paid
	Prompt Mixer is an AI Development Studio that empowers teams to efficiently create, test, and evaluate AI solutions through prompt management, dataset integration, and advanced evaluation metrics.   Key Features: Versatile AI Development Studio Designed for companies and teams Workspace for managers, engineers, and data specialists.                                            Pricing Model: Freemium

In case you missed it

Curious about how AI will impact your work? Watch Wharton professor Ethan Mollick discuss why "co-intelligence" could be the future of AI in the workplace.

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