(This column originally appeared in Forbes)
Here are five things in tech that happened this week and how they affect your business. Did you miss them?
1 – OpenAI is testing a better memory for ChatGPT: Who’ll get it, how it works.
This week OpenAI announced it’s testing better memory for ChatGPT “to make future chats more helpful,” the company said. With 100 million weekly users, the chatbot will have the capacity to recall previous conversations and apply that data to future ones. The memory (which can be turned on or off) will store data such as personal preferences or topics of interest – any facts the user has shared – and that same information can be sourced for future conversations to eliminate the task of repetition. Users can also control what the chatbot remembers according to OpenAI. The company plans to test this with a “small portion of ChatGPT free and Plus users” with a wider rollout later in the coming months. (Source: CNET)
Why this is important for your business:
As a frequent user of ChatGPT I can see the benefits of remember all of my interactions. And why not? ChatGPT is like having an expert assistant that’s got my back and I want that assistant to remember as much about me as possible to make future interactions more productive and relevant. You should too.
2 – Slack begins rolling out Slack AI…well, probably?
Productivity platform Slack announced the launch of Slack AI – “a secure, trustworthy and intuitive AI experience.” Mark Hachman of PCWorld revisited the timeline of Slack’s AI development which technically began a year ago (e.g., Slack GPT). The noteworthy details include “Smart search” – a tool that will retrieve a piece of information across channels and group chats and tagged with source links. “Thread Summaries” will itemize the most important points of ongoing conversations in one click. With all of this, as Hachman points out, is one problematic detail: the company video that demonstrates how these AI-powered tools function presents it as “informational purposes only” with no further specifics. (Source: PCWorld)
Why this is important for your business:
Hmm…”information purposes only” isn’t exactly helpful to us right now, is it? I feel like Slack – and other business apps – are announcing anything they can about their AI progress just to keep themselves in them mix (and let their users know that they’re making progress). When will Slack users really start seeing AI benefits? Probably not this year in my opinion.
3 – New mass Gmail rejections to start April 2024, Google says.
Starting in April, Gmail will activate its plan to reduce the amount of spam in Gmail accounts. Gmail’s email authentication requirement was announced last year. As an update to his initial story, Davey Winder of Forbes has confirmed that Google will begin rejection of a portion of “non-compliant” emails then “gradually increase” the rejection rate. A Google spokesperson has indicated the enforcement of email authentication will be “gradual and progressive.” In terms of the percentages of “non-complaint” traffic – that is yet to be seen – but there are already reports of errors showing up with some bulk-senders. (Source: Forbes)
Why this is important for your business:
How does your Gmail spam folder look? If it’s like me it’s full of stuff! And some of those spam messages are blatantly spam too. Google’s going to help us by simply rejecting messages instead of putting them in the spam folder. The benefit is that we’ll have less emails to sort through to determine if they’re truly spam or not. But let’s hope that Google rejects the right ones, and not something from a prospective customer!
4 – Is it time to automate your business? Here are 18 tools that can help.
The Chamber of Commerce released a list of automation tools small business owners can start taking advantage of so they can focus their time on more rewarding aspects such as customer building and relationships. Some of the tools included are Xero and Zoho Books for billing/cashflow maintenance. Monday.com and Smartsheet are suggested for operations and project management. Both help business owners with scheduling, workflows, task reminders, etc. With the evolving employment of CRM systems, Hubspot and Zoho CRM are among those listed, each for their customized messaging, email automation and customer database maintenance. For the entire list, see story link. (Source: Chamber of Commerce)
Why this is important for your business:
And you just thought the Chamber was a lobbyist for businesses? They are, but kudos to the content team for this list. It’s very helpful.
5 – Why Build-A-Bear is pushing checkouts to tablets.
Build-A-Bear – the retailer who allows their customers to create and customize their own bears as gifts or take part in family workshops – has now added in-store tablets to enhance the customer experience. The tablets allow employees to offer their customers personalized service while also supporting faster checkout time. Transactions can be processed anywhere in the store – a major benefit according to Dara Meath, Chief Technology Officer at Build-A-Bear. “What we wanted to do is really get the experience out to [customers] and help them to start the journey of checking out, of understanding other gifts and opportunities that we offer, without having to stand at a standard [point of sale],” she said. The retailer has 323 locations nationwide. (Source: Retail Dive)
Why this is important for your business:
Have you ever considered handing out tablets to your customers when they enter the store? It may be good. Or maybe not. People do want personal interaction. But if you think it can help the sales process it’s a consideration. Clearly the team at Build A Bear thinks so.
