Dan Siroker knows how to pivot. He once had an education startup that morphed into a successful online analytics company called Optimizely. More recently he created an AI company called Scribe.ai, dedicated to capturing data from apps like Zoom, then reintroduced it as a MacOS app called Rewind designed to be "a search engine for your life." That wasn't clicking, so this week he changed the name of the company again to Limitless and introduced a spiffy wearable. It's a 99 clip or pendant that can record all your conversations so you can use generative AI to refresh your memories or analyze your interactions with other people. Siroker also has some good ideas about privacy: One feature prevents the recording of someone's voice unless they verbally grant permission.

The last year has been characterized by a rush of new artificial intelligence (AI) programs being released into the world since OpenAI, a lab backed by Microsoft, launched ChatGPT in November 2022. Both Microsoft and Google rolled out products in March that they say will use AI to transform work, and IBM's CEO Arvind Krishna said the company's AI tool will be able to reduce 30 to 50% of repetitive office work. Since taking the helm at Microsoft in 2014, at a time when its market dominance with traditional software offerings was waning, Satya Nadella has focused on ensuring the company remains relevant. . The company has invested heavily in Azure, its cloud computing platform, and in AI, pouring at least $13 billion in the leading lab OpenAI. Microsoft's share price has risen nearly tenfold since Nadella became CEO, outperforming the S&P 500, which has merely doubled its value over the same time.

Automation is happening, and will change the daily work activities of everyone, from miners and landscapers to commercial bankers, fashion designers, welders, and CEOs. Use the interactive to explore how robotics and artificial intelligence could potentially change how work is done in four settings: oil and gas exploration, aircraft maintenance, hospital emergency departments, and grocery stores. These case studies are not precise projections. The vision of the future they provide is based on the hypotheses of industry experts. To learn more about the impact of automation on the global economy and labor markets, read the McKinsey Global Institute research report Harnessing automation for a future that works.