AI is About to Change How We Work Forever

Artificial intelligence (AI) tools have long been present in the background of many services, but they are now becoming more powerful and visible across a wide range of workplace tools. Microsoft and Google have recently unveiled new AI-powered features for their signature productivity tools, and OpenAI introduced the next-generation version of the technology that underpins its viral chatbot tool, ChatGPT. In just a few months, users will be able to ask a virtual assistant to transcribe meeting notes during a work call, summarise long email threads to quickly draft suggested replies, quickly create a specific chart in Excel, and turn a Word document into a PowerPoint presentation in seconds. AI can make people more productive and eliminate the grunt work, and tech companies are pitching these tools to boost productivity and unlock a new wave of productivity growth. However, the sheer number of new options hitting the market is dizzying and raises questions of whether they will live up to the hype or cause unintended consequences, including enabling cheating and eliminating the need for certain roles (though that may be the intent of some adopters).