Microsoft announced last week that the next version of Windows would be available. Microsoft 365 CopilotIt’s a major game changer.
It will be able to help you with anything you may need, whether it is inside or outside of the company. It will also learn about you and the company and will then be able to handle your typing, emailing, and presentation preparation. This is still a very early stage and a mere shadow of what will be.
Explore how Microsoft 365 Copilot is likely to mature, as Apple, Google and other companies work furiously in order to match it or even surpass it.
My Product of the week is a new Dell Latitude 9544 2-in-1, which is built like an army tank and boasts a battery life of a full day.
Spend $30 on Your Own AI
This announcement has caused a lot of excitement among people. It will cost your company or you $30 per month for each user. Microsoft doesn’t do any market research before pricing decisions. This is what has people so riled up. So, the perception of what an AI is worth — unless you have been pricing the more limited versions, which tend to be more expensive — is that the price is too much.
What should the value of your personal AI be?
According to the studies I’ve seen, productivity gains can range between 30% and 80% once you know how to use generative artificial intelligence (AI) and it gets to know you. This means that you will either be able to do more in less time or work much less.
This should be a simple decision for a business. IT people tend to be wary of promises about productivity because many have been proven false. Microsoft did not make this claim. It was a Wharton Professor who estimated the benefits.
Imagine you earn $60,000 a year. A 30% productivity gain should be worth at least $20,000 annually, which is more than $30 per month. And an 80% increase would be around $48,000, or $2,000 per month.
As you learn to use the AI better, and more often, your range will increase. As this tool evolves, its potential value could be multiples of what you earn, and not just a small percentage. The AI will learn to perform more repetitive tasks or execute your ideas with greater efficiency.
Microsoft should put this price in perspective. This is a great value. Copilot will be released later this year, which is the only reason why I haven’t bought it yet.
Microsoft 365 Copilot: The Future of Microsoft 365 Copilot
I expect this tool evolve into a true AI-driven assistant. Microsoft should revisit the Cortana idea, but do it right with a full avatar. It will become a real assistant when it is backed up by generative AI.
Imagine a digital assistant who can book your travels, monitor your accounts and provide background information on people calling, texting, or writing to you. It will also protect you from phishing attacks by screening your calls and preventing phishing emails. You can get better alerts about news and events around the world that you are interested in, or it can help you to write things so you can be funny without ruining your career.
Microsoft Copilot is evolving to help you do repetitive and boring work, attend meetings for you, and share information in your absence. Microsoft Copilot will suggest the right response to a challenge, snide comment or even a sarcastic remark. It can also help you with people who have accents that are hard to understand or speak in varying languages.
The AI will act as a personal assistant, combining your knowledge, that of your business, with the information on the internet and about you, to produce a better synergy. This should be more powerful than the sum.
All microprocessor makers are integrating AI into their next-generation processors. This should result in AI functions that are more advanced. Microsoft works to ensure that 365 Copilot takes advantage of this technology. By next year we should see AI performance improve significantly, and that 30% to 80 percent benefit will be obsolete.
Wrapping up
Microsoft is among the leading AI companies. Microsoft brought AI to Bing, and now it’s bringing it to enterprise users with offerings that secure the company’s data while giving employees access to an increasingly competent AI assistant.
Microsoft is no longer executing as effectively as they used to, in terms of building demand and ensuring influencers were trained and positive. This will slow the adoption of these tools, but it gives us time to become familiar with them before we too are obsolete.
Remember when you were required to have knowledge of Office in order for many entry level jobs? Microsoft’s AI products and those of others will soon be included in this requirement. I suggest learning these tools as quickly as possible to avoid becoming obsolete.
You would have thought me crazy if I had told you at the time of the launch for Windows 95 that we would be able to have our very own AI in a few years, and it would only cost $30 per month. Microsoft 365 Copilot has been released. The product is expected to be released before the end of the year.
Dell Latitude 9440 2-in-1
Like most 2-in-1s the Dell Latitude 9440 2-in-1 The laptop weighs about one pound more than other laptops of similar size. The extra weight of the laptop gives it a sense of solidity that lighter laptops simply can’t match.
It is also one of the most expensive products in this category, at $2,369 Its solid build should hold up well even if you bang on your laptop like I do.
It has Wi-Fi 6E, the latest wireless technology. You can upgrade it to a WAN interface for a cell phone network connection (free upgrade with fingerprint reader). It is also a 2-in-1 device that can be used for sharing presentations across a desk or watching videos on a plane.
Dell Latitude 9440 2-in-1 laptop (Image credit: Dell).
Dell’s boxing strategy for this laptop is a great example of how it has improved the presentation of its products. The Latitude 9440 is packaged in a stylish black box.
Laptops are not equipped with many ports. However, we use a lot of accessories. In addition, business monitors provide power and extra ports. So we don’t need as many ports on our laptops. With three USB-C port, the 9440 is compatible with Intel’s Thunderbolt 4 standards. It can therefore be used with virtually any Thunderbolt dock.
It can be connected to two networks at once, which allows for better wireless performance, and the display is nice with 513 nits which should work adequately outdoors — most notebooks in this class have closer to 300 nits. Third-party testing indicates that the colors of this laptop are very accurate.
Battery life can last up to 11 practical hours. You could leave it in your bag at work or home, and charge it over night.
The Dell Latitude 9440 is a 2-in-1 laptop that I think is very impressive. It’s my Product of the week.
