Zoom meetings are getting even weirder

Here are five things that happened in the tech industry this week and how they impact your business. Were you lonely?

1 – Zoom meetings are getting even weirder thanks to Apple’s Vision Pro.

Zoom is enhancing its virtual meeting experience with the new Vision Pro app. When integrated with Apple Vision Pro, users can use digital representations (avatars) to participate in Zoom meetings. (Source: The Verge)

Why this is important for your business:

Participants experience the same facial expressions and gestures as the user without the need for a headset. This app allows users to immerse themselves in different environments that merge with their own. In addition to these features, Zoom plans to develop a “real world pinning” feature that will give users the ability to virtually place meeting participants in their environment. The company aims to “make hybrid collaboration more immersive” and provide collaborators with the “ultimate meeting experience.” Whether an employee wants to wear his 20-ounce headset from Mars is another matter.

2 – Will Microsoft Edge secretly replace Chrome?

Windows 10 and 11 users have noticed a strange glitch related to Google Chrome. There are reports of Chrome suddenly switching to Microsoft Edge and displaying the same tabs that were previously open in Chrome. Tom Warren of The Verge, who uses Chrome as his default browser, posted a report on Monday detailing this strange glitch he discovered. Edge didn’t just duplicate your tabs, it “carried over” where you left off in your browsing timeline. Although Microsoft hasn’t officially addressed it, other users have experienced similar symptoms. Warren suspects there is a flaw in Microsoft’s settings that cause the browser to change when importing data to the default browser of choice, but strangely, this browser does not prompt He appears as Edge. (Source: Arstechnica)

Why this is important for your business:

Oh yeah…it’s a “malfunction”. As a happy Chrome user, I can’t tell you how happy I would be if Edge suddenly replaced my browser without my permission. That might be a good thing. If one of your employees brings this to your attention, you’ll know right away.

3 – OpenAI quietly introduces an update to ChatGPT that allows users to tag their own chatbots.

A new discovery has been made to speed up the process of finding and using GPT for ChatGPT Plus subscribers. As ChatGPT enthusiast @danshipper pointed out, you can use “@” to activate a custom chatbot/GPT. His OpenAI, announced last November, offered the ability for subscribers to create their own personalized chatbots. Since then, thousands of his GPTs have been created and subscribers can now find her GPTs more easily. OpenAI has not yet made an official announcement. (Source: TechRadar)

Why this is important for your business:

The ChatGPT store has been open for a few weeks and there are already thousands of GPT apps there (I plan to dive in soon). This is one way to leverage it, but ChatGPT power users still need to understand and take advantage of its capabilities.

4 – Hate taxes? H&R Block’s new AI chatbot aims to alleviate tax frustrations.

H&R Block has a new tool for tax preparers: AI Tax Assist. Powered by Microsoft Azure, an AI assistant can help answer specific tax questions and simplify the filing process. This service is available at no additional charge if you apply through H&R Block’s system. (Source: TechRadar)

Why this is important for your business:

Can we rely on this information to get accurate recommendations? Concerns about accuracy issues have been raised following reports that AI generates false information or hallucinations when asked certain questions. The developer and his H&R Block solved these incidents by “leveraging the Tax Institute’s data and the experience of his more than 60,000 tax professionals,” as stated in the company’s press release. We have taken steps to minimize this. I’m a big fan of generative AI tools like this. Because, like this tool, it provides an expert assistant at your fingertips. But who still doesn’t check out their assistant?

5 – Automated AI restaurant opens in California.

CBS News reported on a “fully autonomous AI-powered restaurant” called CaliExpress by Flippy in Pasadena, California. Robot cooks fryer and grill. Flippy, a burger bot, can cook 250 pounds of fries in an hour. (Source: CBS News)

Why this is important for your business:

“This automation helps solve many of those problems,” the owner said. California’s minimum wage increase to $20 an hour was also cited as an incentive for owners to invest in AI in the fast food space. Alongside the robots, human workers put the “finishing touches” on the food. Although it sounds promising, many restaurant owners will have concerns about both cost and reliability.

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