(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 — Google’s new AI feature will soon write entire emails for you, Google announces.
Drafting emails will no longer be a time-consuming task. Google announced “help me write” a soon-to-be added feature in Gmail. With one click the AI-generated tool will write out complete messages after the user types just a few words. Users can then edit and customize the wording and modify the email’s tone. (Source: Mashable)
Why this is important for your business:
I already know people that are using this feature in ChatGPT and guess what? It’s pretty darn good. Here’s a perfect example of just a little way that AI will be changing out business. An employee may take 20 minutes to compose an important email. AI like this will cut the time in half, maybe even more. Which means that same employee can get more done during the day. And you don’t have to hire more employees.
2 — ActiveCampaign introduces content generation powered by AI
The marketing and automation platform ActiveCampaign recently launched its AI enhancement tool that will further refine the way businesses reach their customers. The company announced the beta version will be available to its customers on its early access page. As an example — users who are formulating email marketing strategies can employ the AI’s “natural language processing” which will craft three different messaging templates tailored to the user’s campaign. (Source: ActiveCampaign)
Why this is important for your business:
And here’s AI taken one step further. Where Google is composing individual emails, email marketing platforms like ActiveCampaign — and its many competitors — will be creating email marketing messages…and ultimately executing, responding to replies and measuring data.
3 — Scribe Launches Scribe AI: A revolutionary way to automate business documentation.
Scribe — the knowledge management software that helps organize and simplify information — has launched Scribe AI. Designed to automate business documentation — Scribe AI streamlines the process of creating, editing, and formatting documents. (Source: PR Newswire)
Why this is important for your business:
According to the company the advanced AI technology provides accurate transcription and content generation, saving time and improving efficiency for businesses. So this isn’t email, these are documents like orders, contracts, agreements, letters and the like. All of them “created” by AI to help save time.
4 — These 4 popular Microsoft apps are getting a big AI boost.
Sabrina Ortiz of ZDNet reported on Microsoft’s newly added AI enhancements to four of its popular applications. Bing — Microsoft’s search engine that has an image creation feature — now includes Bing Chat that comes with a voice feature where users can ask the chatbot questions or source for information. The Edge app will interface with Bing Chat where the user can highlight a section of a web page and ask a question about that specific content. Swiftkey — the virtual keyboard that drafts emails and texts — and Skype have also been upgraded with AI features. (Source: ZDNet)
Why this is important for your business:
My clients ask me if they should be building AI technology and I say no, just wait for your software vendor. And — as evidenced by Microsoft here — both big and small tech firms are already incorporating AI into their products to help users get stuff done faster and with less time.
5 — The IRS reportedly has a free TurboTax alternative in the works.
The IRS wants to help you file your taxes. The Washington Post reported the agency is developing a digital filing system that will be free to the public. No specifics on when the filing system will be fully up and running though reports indicate January 2024 is the target date for a test-run. The incentive behind the platform — in part — is to relieve taxpayers of costly filing fees. (Source: Engadget)
Why this is important for your business:
Intuit’s not happy about this. But I’m betting many of their small business and individual customers are.
