March is very nearly at an end and it’s been quite a month for diverging views in the industry.
Satya Nadella, CEO at Microsoft, has spoken out against the tech sector’s apparent fixation on achieving AGI while comparing the potential for AI to the rise of Excel spreadsheets in business. The Microsoft chief has turned his attention to the material benefits of AI, as we enter a crunch year for AI developers.
Elsewhere this month, UK tech firms are being offered support with adopting a four-day week, which could have major benefits for staff and a major security blogger has fallen victim to a classic cyber attack.
In this episode, Jane and Rory welcome back Ross Kelly, ITPro’s news and analysis editor, to discuss some of the most noteworthy news from across the month.
Highlights
“I think it's around tempering expectations, but not in a way that this isn't actually going to deliver some benefits for customers. He compared the developments in AI right now to the emergence of Excel.”
“There is only so much that we can do to protect ourselves against phishing. You can be aware. You can follow best practice. You can do any training that your employer lays out, implement two factor authentication, all these kinds of things, but ultimately, it just takes one little thing to happen, and you could be a victim as well.”
“There's fifth day stoppage, so you don't work Mondays, or you don't work Fridays. There are also models in which specific people work certain days, so that could just be a matter of saying, ‘Okay, every other person in the company just works alternating days’ or you could split it up by group.”
Footnotes
- ‘The entire forecasting business process changed’: Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella says Excel changed the game for enterprises in 1985 – he’s confident AI tools will do the same
- OpenAI says it’s charting a "path to AGI" with its next frontier AI model
- 'Digital hide-and-seek': Workers are wasting hundreds of hours a year sourcing the information they need to carry out their role
- Agentic AI investment is putting the cart before the horse
- 200 UK firms have now adopted a four-day working week – and Brits are convinced it will become the norm within five years
- UK tech firms have a chance to trial a four-day week this year – here's how other pilot schemes fared
- Have I Been Pwned owner Troy Hunt’s mailing list compromised in phishing attack
- What is phishing?
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