The future of generative AI: early challenges for IT, and opportunities

I recently attended the annual scenario planning session for friend and colleague Rob Salkowitz’s ‘Future of Marketing’ class in the Communications Leadership program at the University of Washington. We introduced his students to scenario planning and asked them to think about how the technologies of the moment may play out against different social, technological, economic, environmental, and political backdrops over the next decade.

March 11, 2023 by Daniel W. Rasmus

Microsoft caught Google off-guard with its recent push into generative AI, which could have big ramifications for search. And it might just mean the Singularity is closer than we think.

Written by Rob Enderle, read more at ComputerWorld

With the HP Elitebook 840 G9, HP delivers a relatively powerful computer in the prefered form factor for most business users. The wide-ranging options make it ideal for corporate purchases that want to buy in bulk but still meet the needs of varying use cases.

What we like

From its excellent 5-megapixel auto-framing camera to its 14-inch 16:10 aspect ratio 2920×1200 WUXGA display, the HP Elitebook 840 G9 elegantly states that it’s all business. The adoption of the 16:10 offers more workspace than the 16:9 EliteBook 840 Aero G8 which preceded this model. The list price shared during a briefing stated the device will cost between $1,100 and $1,600, depending on the configuration, though the HP website  shows several higher-priced configurations.

By Daniel Rasmus, Serious Insights

We are surrounded by fake news, whether it’s from someone trying to discredit someone else, trick us into doing something not in our best interests, or convince us that a viable medical treatment is bad or a non-viable medical treatment is good. Particularly with videos and the emergence of Deep Fakes, we may increasingly see people we trust misrepresented and giving us bad advice or making us believe a false narrative.  Worse, even if we later find that video is false, the impression it leaves with us may cause us to place or remove trust from a person or institution in error. 

By Robert Enderle

Updated: This AI chatbot's advanced conversational capabilities have created quite the buzz. Here's what you need to know.

Written by Sabrina Ortiz, Read more at ZDNET, updated Jan. 24, 2023

Several jobs and their associated skills face existential threats from automation. Conventional wisdom, and assertions from inventors, almost always focus on automating activities that detract from the human experience by removing physical burdens or eliminating mind-numbing tedium. Automation frees humans, it is argued; it unleashes them from subsistence and allows them to better create, to more effectively, and more freely, do those things that remain utterly and uniquely human.

The latest round of AI, however, overreaches its ambitions by impinging on very human activities such as art and writing. In the name of eliminating the burden of copywriting, commercial tools like Jasper suggest AI can write blogs and advertising copy with the same competency as a human being.

By Dan Rasmus, Serious Insights

Historically, ink-jet printers have been defined by both their ink cartridge configuration and their razor blade marketing model where the printers are sold at or below cost and the printer supplier makes its profit on supplies. The problem with this model is that it isn’t very sustainable. The cartridges are made of plastic which doesn’t degrade well, and the printing company is financially motivated to sell you more of them.  

By Rob Enderle, The Enderle Group

By Dan Rasmus, Serious Insights

This list may change or grow slightly over the next couple of weeks as I continue to read through the press releases and review my notes. Keep in mind that most of these items are not yet shipping and that I had less than 30 minutes with most of them—and no time at all with others. CES is a show about the future. In the case of IT technology, it’s a future that reveals itself over the next several months, not years. 

I have put in pricing and availability estimates where they have been shared.

Best Windows Laptop

Lenovo Yoga Book 9i

The Yoga Book 9i, the first dual-screen OLED laptop impresses immediately. It is at the top of my list, and that top placement isn’t unique among CES list makers.

CES is back. From the look of things, attendance is much stronger than it was last year, even though concerns about the latest Covid 19 variant have kept folks like me away again. What interested me early on was the contrast between NVIDIA's and AMD's keynotes. For once, NVIDIA’s CEO was absent (except as a virtual avatar) and the keynote was canned (and streamed). The AMD keynote was led by its CEO in person with an audience and was promoted by CES leadership. 

Let’s contrast the two events and how the two once-similar companies are starting to significantly diverge in terms of focus and strategy. We’ll take a look at the advantages and disadvantages of each unique approach. 

By Rob Enderle, Enderle Group

 By Rob Enderle

This week was Qualcomm’s annual summit in Hawaii, and for once I’m not there, which is kind of a shame because it’s really cold where I live right now. However, on paper, the Qualcomm Oryon processor due next year could be the perfect competitive answer to Apple’s M1/2 if Intel’s coming little core/big core effort is late to market, which seems likely given Intel is undergoing a large layoff.  

Oryon is based on Nuvia technology that has been somewhat problematic given ARM is suing Qualcomm for using the technology in what appears to be a suicidal effort designed to cripple this potential Apple competitor. But if launched successfully as expected in 2024, this processor could be a huge game changer.