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'Ghostwriter' in the machine: Integrating AI into work and life Feb 18, 2023

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Software developer Patrick Husting is excited about the potential of generative AI to transform daily work and life, but he's also cautious about the role of big tech companies -- and he sees an opportunity for independent operators such as himself to unlock the potential of artificial intelligence for users across different platforms.

Husting is the developer of a new third-party add-in called Ghostwriter that lets users query OpenAI’s ChatGPT in a Word sidebar and watch content generated by the natural language chatbot unfurl directly in the document they’re drafting. It's available for Microsoft Word, Outlook, Excel, and other Office products coming soon.

Husting, a Seattle-area business leader, serial entrepreneur, and software developer who worked in Microsoft’s consulting business in the late 1990s. He came up with the idea last fall when he was using ChatGPT for writing assistance, and got tired of cutting and pasting, and switching between windows.

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The new Microsoft Bing, and how AI is changing the web Feb 11, 2023

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Yusuf Mehdi is a Microsoft veteran of more than 31 years, who has been involved in the development and launch of some of the company's biggest products, including Windows 95 and Windows 11, the Xbox One console, and past versions of Microsoft's search engine. He's currently the corporate vice president and consumer chief marketing officer.

He spoke with GeekWire's Todd Bishop on the Microsoft campus on Tuesday, a few hours after introducing the new Bing search engine and an updated version of Microsoft's Edge browser with a sidebar that uses AI to generate and analyze web content.

Topics of the discussion include the potential impact of AI search on content creators, Google's preemptive response to Microsoft's announcement, the precautions Microsoft is taking to prevent another "Tay" moment, and both the capabilities and limitations of this new generation of AI.

The new Bing, along with an updated version of Microsoft’s Edge browser, are available in a limited preview, with a wait-list for those who want to try the AI search and web copilot as they roll out more broadly.

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The problem with AI, and other predictions for the future of technology Feb 04, 2023

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Popular methods of artificial intelligence have an "explainability problem," the inability to understand exactly what's happening between input and output, and this black box will hinder new advances from neural networks

That's one of the predictions for 2023 from Mark R. Anderson, founding chair and CEO of Strategic News Service (SNS) and the Future in Review Conferences. An author, scientist, and entrepreneur, he's known for using pattern discovery to accurately predict the future, and his predictions are part of the reason SNS has been followed closely in the industry since 1995.

Anderson happens to have vested interest in his take on neural networks as the CEO of machine learning company Pattern Computer, which uses an alternative approach, focusing on pattern recognition.

On this episode of the GeekWire Podcast, Anderson explains Pattern's approach and shares details from two more of his predictions for 2023: skeptical takes on the near-term future of autonomous systems and the metaverse.=

The full list of predictions is available to SNS subscribers. Anderson is also the featured speaker at an upcoming dinner event, Feb. 9 in Bellingham, Wash., benefitting the Rotary Club of Bellingham. Tickets available here.

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How layoffs are impacting gender diversity in tech Feb 02, 2023

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The ongoing layoffs across the tech industry are impacting women at a disproportionately higher rate than men, representing a possible setback for the industry's efforts to improve its gender diversity. That’s according to research conducted by talent intelligence platform Eightfold AI. Our guest this week is Sania Khan, chief economist at talent intelligence platform Eightfold AI, and a former U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics senior economist.

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How AI's new era is inspiring one startup founder Jan 28, 2023

Show notes

This podcast features Kirill Zubovsky, a startup founder and consultant, who is now working with AI to create applications. He talks about his journey over the past few months with AI, his experience with generative AI and GPT-3, and the application of AI he has been working on, Smartynames, a domain and business name finder. He also talks about his experience living in a van with his two kids and two pets and his thoughts on the current "App Store moment" for artificial intelligence.

(This summary was produced by SwellAI.com based on its AI analysis of the content in this week's episode, with only minor human edits for style.)

GeekWire story: Putting the AI in domains: Why the new era of artificial intelligence inspires this startup founder

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The power dynamics behind the Big Tech job cuts Jan 21, 2023

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One of the defining tech industry trends of the past decade, along with the meteoric expansion of big companies and their insatiable appetite for talent, was the growing influence of engineers commanding ever-increasing salaries.

That's changing with the waves of layoffs by Amazon, Microsoft, Google parent Alphabet, Salesforce, Facebook parent Meta, and others. The big salary increases that workers could expect when changing jobs are becoming a thing of the past.

It's one of the major behind-the-scenes shifts happening as a result of the Big Tech cutbacks, our topic this week on the GeekWire Podcast.