Augmented AI has a new look and a new name

🥽 TRENDS

Apple's Bold AI Moves at WWDC 2024 - Apple Intelligence (🔗 link)

At WWDC 2024, Apple unveiled significant advancements in AI with the introduction of Apple Intelligence, deeply integrated into iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia. This AI-powered system enhances user experiences by understanding personal context, making Siri more intuitive, and improving functionalities in apps like Photos and Messages. These developments highlight Apple's commitment to privacy and on-device processing, setting a new standard for AI integration in consumer tech and paving the way for competition with its main competitors in this space Microsoft and Google. We waited for while for Apple to utter the words AI and now they have, and it spells Apple Intelligence.

Microsoft in damage control over Global Cyber Security (🔗 link)

In a recent announcement, Microsoft has shifted its focus to prioritize security over the rapid advancement of AI. This move comes amid rising concerns about AI safety and ethical implications. By emphasizing security, Microsoft aims to build trust and ensure robust protections are in place as AI technologies evolve. This strategic pivot highlights the company's commitment to responsible AI inside the Microsoft culture, balancing innovation with the imperative to safeguard user data and prevent misuse. As Microsoft’s president stood in front of Congress it became clear that they were serious with a new policy that dictates that all employees from the top down will now be measured by the way they approach cyber security and this will be tied to compensation. I have a feeling that this will make people take security more seriously.

Colorado's Landmark AI Legislation (🔗 link)

Colorado has enacted a pioneering law regulating AI use in decision-making processes. Set to take effect in 2026, this legislation aims to mitigate biases and ensure transparency in AI applications across various sectors, including employment and insurance. While the law has sparked debate over its potential impact on innovation, it marks a significant step towards accountable AI usage. Colorado's approach may serve as a model for other states looking to balance technological progress with ethical considerations. We will see if they can keep this bill intact without ammendments as the business community has made loud noises about the bill overstepping its bounds. This fight between safety and innovation will start playing out as other states follow Colorado’s lead.

💡 SPOTLIGHT

Simply Augmented has new look and a new name - Augmented AI

Today’s spotlight is personal and highlights a shift we have made in our company as we go to market to tell our story about GenAI transformation. In our latest evolution, we've made the bold move to rebrand from Simply Augmented to Augmented AI. This change reflects our commitment to advancing AI solutions and our role in helping businesses navigate the complexities of GenAI and augmenting their internal teams and workflows.

Our mission is to guide clients in assessing opportunities, validating effectiveness, and implementing AI solutions that drive tangible value. We try to emphasize evaluating the value, effort, and risk associated with AI projects to ensure successful outcomes.

This weeks company spotlight shines a light inward and delves into our strategic approach and the transformative potential we’re uncovering in the GenAI landscape.

The narrative around GenAI has swung between extremes—apocalyptic fears of job losses and existential threats, and dismissive attitudes due to issues like hallucinations. However, the truth lies somewhere in the middle. When applied correctly, GenAI can be incredibly beneficial to businesses. We draw from our extensive experience in traditional AI/ML to demonstrate how GenAI, properly harnessed, can enhance workflows and create significant value. Our approach is grounded in real-world applications and success stories from various industries.

Here are 5 key areas where we are seeing substantial impact. In the weeks ahead we will go into more detail about each of these topics and articulate key use cases and companies.

Digital Backbone: Companies utilize GenAI to manage unstructured inputs and outputs from traditional workflows, streamlining operations and improving efficiency. Every company has an internal structured database of one kind or another and GenAI allows for unstructured data to be consumed and then organized into these internal systems.

Semantic Search: Businesses leverages GenAI to enable search functionalities that understand content and meaning, rather than relying on keywords alone. This is a new way to think about search for employee onboarding as well as internal tools to find useful information faster to improve existing workflows.

Self-Serve Analytics: One of our commercial real estate clients, Savills, benefit from GenAI’s ability to generate real-time code for data analysis and visualization, empowering business users to make informed decisions quickly. For business leaders that can’t write code this gives them the abiltity to get much closer to the data without an intermediary.

Knowledge Management: Organizations such as Formations (https://max.formationscorp.com/) emphasize the importance of curated information sources, ensuring their GenAI systems access reliable data. This is especially true in cases where financical and health information needs to be completely accurate all the time.

Assessment: With partners like DOXA Talent, we develop reliable and transparent methods to score and assess natural language artifacts. This can show up when reviewing resumes but can also apply to any application that needs to be accessed against a structured set of criteria.

For businesses, leveraging GenAI solutions effectively means tailoring them to unique needs and existing digital workflows. GenAI is not just about enhancing communication but revolutionizing workflow automation, offering bespoke solutions that drive business value. If you want to learn more about what we are doing at Augmented AI check us out at simplyaugmented.ai.

We are excited about this new direction and can’t wait to share more about real world use cases to help you drive your business forward.