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Byte-sized AI: Did you miss me? I bet you did!
To quote the Cooper Temple Clause, âDid you miss me? I bet you did!â.
We had a little hiatus over the summer as everyoneâs away and no one wants to read newsletters by the pool. But now the autumn is upon us and itâs time to get back to it.
đ° The one item of news:
AI adoption
Google has just opened a new data centre in Waltham Cross as part of a ÂŁ5bn investment programme for the UK. Undoubtedly good news for the local construction industry and the employment prospects of developers, engineers (like, real engineers that do things with pipes and screws) and facilities management people.
The general vibe music around the UK and tech industry has always been very positive. Itâs a bit of an unsung hero of the economy. Did you know that the gaming industry supports around 75,000 full time roles, directly and indirectly, and is worth about ÂŁ5bn of GDP? And thatâs just gaming, not business tech.
VistaPrint have been commissioning research on AI adoption in UK SMEs. I confess itâs not entirely clear to me why they would do that, but itâs interesting reading. Common applications include:
- Drafting emails
- Automating customer service
- Conducting market research
Efficiency is the top benefit cited, and many firms use AI to level the playing field against larger competitors. However, some SMEs still feel they lack the training to fully leverage these tools.
If only there was a UK SME in the technology sector that specialised in helping with exactly these things! (I donât often straight up plug, but I couldnât resist).
This very much matches what we see, but it misses a key point â expectations have been artificially inflated by the AI companies, but SMEs in particular have been left with little resources to help properly implement and benefit from the technology. The result, not surprisingly, is a lot of people feeling frustrated and disappointed.
đ The one thing that made me laugh:
House
Iâve found myself binge-watching House from the beginning. It started 21 years ago. That made me feel old!
Obviously House is a sociopath and in the real world thereâs no way he would get away with his behaviour no matter how much of a genius he is. Neither genius nor pain are an excuse for being⌠I canât complete that sentence politely.
Anyway, I do still find the humour of it funny, and itâs all available on Netflix if you fancy rewatching.
âThe hematoma caused the coma. Thatâs a catchy diagnosis â you could dance to thatâ
đĄ The one thing you can do next week:
Are you blessed
Copilot is evolving all the time. If you are blessed with a Copilot for Microsoft 365 licence I strongly urge you to go to https://m365.cloud.microsoft/ and see what it can do. Idea coaching, writing coaching, data analysis, image generation, research, creating and distributing surveys, the world is very much your oyster.
I just asked it to research the growth of electric cars as a share of the market over the last 5 years and consider the factors that are limiting further acceleration. Hereâs what it made.
Disclaimer â we are not experts in the EV market, nothing in there is actual advice, we donât certify it at all. If you are an expert and disagree with the findings, feel free to think that it would be a useful tool for structuring your thoughts while you assemble your own data. The point is that it does a lot of research, lays it out nicely and provides its sources, which is the first 80% done. We would never suggest publishing the outcome raw as actual advice, and thatâs not what weâre doing here.
That should make the lawyers happy.
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.
Subscribe to Byte-sized AI
Check out past Byte-sized AI issues:
- Byte-sized AI: Bubble, bubbleIs the AI bubble about to burst? Using Copilot in Microsoft Outlook. Ethics and morals, the big difference answered.
- Byte-sized AI: Did you miss me? I bet you did!AI adoption in UK SMEs, how amazing House is and the amazing ever evolving Microsoft Copilot.
- Byte-sized AI: AI overviews and using personasAI in search is here, some of it great, some not! đ Plus, make your AI tools ten times better.
- Byte-sized AI: Numbers tell a storyDevelop your team for AI, Copilot for Notebook and pining for the fjords!
- Byte-sized AI: Lost in an open plan area!Find out what Nick has been up to at the Kent and Medway Business Summit and have you tried triple promoting.
- Byte-sized AI: AI actFind out how AI is being kept in check, decide if AI is funny, and have you started going loopy!
- Byte-sized AI: AI opportunitiesÂŁ7 million, belly laughs and AI distilled! What more can you want? Byte-sized AI from the mind of Nick Ellis!
- Byte-sized AI: Are you thinking deeper?I’m back for another Byte-sized AI issue, and as promised here are my three things. đ
- Byte-sized AI: Its a little bit of snow!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:
- Byte-sized AI: Say hello to ClaudeFor the more technical parts of my job, I use an AI called Claude, which was created by Anthropic.
- Byte-sized AI: Granny is here to make it all better!O2 have created an AI that sounds like your gran! The obvious question is âwhy?â. Firstly, it doesnât sound like your gran specifically, that would be weird; itâs a generic gran called Daisy, complete with confusion about technology and a tendency to talk about her cat too much. Still doesnât answer why though.
- Byte-sized AI: A llama with AI and an admission!Meta are doing something very interesting. They have a set of AI models collectively called âLlamaâ which anyone can download and use in their products for free.
- Byte-sized AI: Something special is happening in the UK!The UK is doing something a bit special. The global average for businesses adopting AI to some extent is around 13%.
- Byte-sized AI: Up, up and… back down! đEvery so often in the world of tech something happens that is so astonishing, so utterly gob-smacking that we should all just stop and applaud.
- Byte-sized AI: An extra brain in the room!I’m back for another Byte-sized AI issue, and as promised here are my three things! đ
- Byte-sized AI: The machines have taken over SainsburysWelcome to the very first issue of my new technology newsletter Byte-sized AI. Each issue I will give you three things:Something techy from the news Something that made me laugh Something that you can do to improve how you work
- Byte-sized AI: Be the first to hear from NickWant to get the latest news about technology and AI, then there is only one person you need to hear from and that’s me!!
Nick Ellis
AI and Innovation Lead at Select Technology. Nick’s mission is to spread the powers of AI and Automation to all, ensuring businesses are at the forefront of innovation.