Latest news with #automation
Geek Vibes Nation
2 hours ago
- Business
- Geek Vibes Nation
From AI To Gen AI: How Cloud Computing Is Accelerating Intelligent Automation
Over the past few years, AI has gone from being a future idea to a basic technology used by many industries. AI allows organizations in both customer service and manufacturing to streamline their workflows and make better decisions. Our shift to Gen AI in AI is bringing about an increased use of intelligent automation, made stronger by cloud computing. When Gen AI is linked to cloud computing, it affects more than technology; it also reforms how enterprises work, experiment and reach their targets. Still, what roles does cloud computing play in this development? How can we help professionals keep up with these evolving trends? We're ready to get started. Being aware of the stance from AI to Gen AI To truly value cloud computing, you must be familiar with the movement of AI into Gen AI. AI systems that use traditional approaches receive training from organized data, then look for patterns and generate predictions or decisions. You might think about machine learning algorithms that distinguish images, estimate sales or recognize fraud. Generative AI is an even bigger development than creating repetitive text. It does not limit itself to understanding or forecasting; it also makes original work. With help from GPT and diffusion models for image generation, Gen AI generates text that reads like what a human would write, as well as types of coding, musical pieces, videos and anything else viable. Because of this capability, AI is starting to carry out creative and thought tasks that people previously did alone — writing advertisements, designing models and providing data for training other models. Cloud Computing Supports the Main Framework for Intelligent Automation Although Gen AI has a lot of promise, it takes a lot of effort and resources to create and implement these models. Very large language models (LLMs) cannot be trained unless one has a lot of data, powerful computers and enough storage — and all of these are readily available through cloud computing. Here's why cloud platforms are speeding up the Gen AI revolution for automation. Easily Scalable Resources for Model Training and Using the Model GPT-4 and Google's Gemini need billions of parameters and a large amount of data to develop their models. The way organizations run on their own servers is not flexible enough to tackle today's requirements. People working in AI can quickly increase or reduce compute power (AWS EC2, Google TPUs, Azure VMs) from the cloud as needed. This way, AI is accessible to startups, educational places, as well as technology leaders, since they can test and use the cloud or pay as needed. Qlouds offers a straightforward way to use pre-made models and APIs. Providers of cloud technology now make Gen AI models accessible via application programming interfaces. You can access OpenAI's models on Azure, as well as Google's PaLM models from Vertex AI. By doing this, Gen AI now allows developers to build apps using existing models, instead of having to build and train their own. It only takes calling an API for businesses to add tasks such as summarization, translation or the generation of images into their processes, resulting in much shorter development times. Artificial Intelligence development with integrated toolchains Developing AI in the cloud is supported by complete platforms used along the entire process. Such resources consist of data import tools, places to train models (for example, SageMaker and Azure ML Studio), tracking experiments, versions of the models and MLOps pipelines. With this integration, automated solutions are developed more easily as data science, engineering and operations teams work together without as many problems. Organizations should focus on Security, Compliance and Governance. Because AI is now central to business operations, data privacy and the integrity of models are very important. Thanks to advanced security measures, identity verification, logs for everything and compliance certifications, businesses can rely on the AI they create. Intelligent Automation in Real Business Settings Take a look at these ways in which Gen AI and the cloud are supporting intelligent automation: Gen AI courses are used to train agents of AI on specific information, letting them address consumer concerns with natural speech which reduces work for people. Developers can now use GitHub Copilot which uses Gen AI, to make programming faster and help avoid making errors. IDP systems supported by Gen AI enable people in financial services to retrieve information from invoices, contracts and KYC documentation much faster with fewer mistakes. AI diagnostics in healthcare work with cloud records and images to notice diseases early and form fitting treatment plans just for each person. Gaining new knowledge for the age of AI and the Cloud Since there is an upsurge in Gen AI-powered automation by companies, skilled people who can handle both AI and cloud are needed more than ever. All types of developers and data professionals need to learn more about these areas to stay important. Join an artificial intelligence course to gain solid knowledge of machine learning, deep learning and natural language processing. Most of these programs involve doing projects with data that is typical within a company setting. Find courses that cover large language models, prompt engineering, ethical AI and building things with APIs from companies including OpenAI, Cohere and Anthropic. Don't forget the basics — take on cloud computing courses to master cloud architecture, creating code for your infrastructure, dockerization and the services provided by AWS, Azure and Google Cloud. Connecting information from these three parts of engineering helps professionals build solutions that truly matter. What's ahead: Introducing the New Wave of Co-Pilots The future will see cloud computing and Gen AI working together as the main drivers of new digital change. We are headed toward having AI assistants at our sides in many fields such as HR, finance, law and creative industries. Not only will these systems take care of routine activities, but they will also work together with people to make work more effective and encourage new ideas. More mature quantum computing and edge AI will fuel the growth of cloud platforms as the central system for this smart enterprise. Conclusion Cloud computing is playing a big role in the growth of intelligent automation from AI to Gen AI. Because of this combination, businesses are able to invent more quickly, expand more wisely and use their resources more effectively. As technology advances, anyone focused on learning both AI, Gen AI and cloud computing will help design the future. No matter if you're new to AI or seeking greater expertise, now is the best time to look for the right courses on artificial intelligence, dabble in gen ai classes and build a stronger base with cloud computing courses. Caroline is doing her graduation in IT from the University of South California but keens to work as a freelance blogger. She loves to write on the latest information about IoT, technology, and business. She has innovative ideas and shares her experience with her readers.
CNN
3 hours ago
- Business
- CNN
Takeaways from Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei's CNN interview
Academics and economists have long warned that rapidly advancing artificial intelligence will wipe out jobs and upend the global economy. Now that call is coming from inside the house. On Thursday, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei warned on CNN that the technology will spike unemployment sooner than political leaders and businesses expect — and they aren't ready for it. Amodei believes the AI tools that Anthropic and other companies are racing to build could eliminate half of entry-level, white-collar jobs and boost unemployment to as much as 20% in the next one to five years, he told Axios on Wednesday. Meanwhile, his company, a leading artificial intelligence lab, is selling AI technology that it says can work nearly seven hours a day, the length of a typical human workday. A recent World Economic Forum survey found that 41% of employers plan to reduce their workforce because of AI automation by 2030. However, some experts say AI will automate certain tasks rather than entire jobs. And skeptics say the rapid growth of artificial intelligence tools may slow down as companies run out of high-quality data to train their models and that the kinds of highly complex jobs human can reliably do are still far out of reach for artificial intelligence. Still, Amodei's comments are notable, coming from the CEO of a major AI company. Here are four takeaways from his interview with CNN's Anderson Cooper. Amodei said the skills needed for white-collar, entry-level jobs — 'ability to summarize a document, analyze a bunch of sources and put it into a report, write computer code' — could be done with AI, which is 'as good as a smart college student.' Amodei predicts AI tools could eliminate half of white-collar, entry-level jobs, bringing the unemployment rate to up to 20% in the near future. While AI companies could reap big profits if businesses widely adopt their products, Amodei did say he supports levying taxes on AI companies. It's 'definitely not in my economic interest to say that, but I think this is something we should consider.' Amodei said he didn't have an exact timeline on when these jobs will become obsolete for humans. But, he said, 'it's eerie the extent to which the broader public and politicians, legislators, I don't think, are fully aware of what's going on.' 'We have to make sure that people have the ability to adapt, and that that we adopt the right the right policies… but we have to act now. We can't just sleepwalk into it.' Amodei said humans will have to soon grapple with AI outperforming them 'at almost all intellectual tasks.' Eventually, no one will be safe from AI automation replacing their jobs — even CEOs like him, he said. If that happens, 'we're going to have to think about how to order our society,' Amodei said. More people still use AI for augmentation, which enhances human abilities, rather than automation, which replaces humans totally. But that gap is quickly narrowing: Currently, 60% of people use AI for augmentation and 40% for automation, according to Amodei. 'We can see where the trend is going, and that's what's driving some of the concern (about AI in the workforce),' he said. Amodei said it's important for people to learn how to use artificial intelligence. 'Learn to understand where the technology is going. If you're not blindsided, you have a much better chance of adapting,' he said. It's important for humans to spot when AI-generated content doesn't make sense. People should think critically for moments when the 'AI system messes up intrinsically,' he said, adding that 'the entity that's controlling it, in some cases, may not have your best interests at heart.' CNN's Clare Duffy contributed to this report.
Fast Company
4 hours ago
- Business
- Fast Company
How automation improves real estate interactions
Miscommunication, missed messages, forgotten requests—these are the hidden costs of doing business in real estate. In the real estate industry, manual data entry mistakes, such as misallocated expenses or incorrect financial reporting, can cost companies millions annually. Research indicates that manual data entry has an error rate ranging from 1% to 4% and each error can cost up to $25 to rectify. These costs can manifest as missed investment opportunities, unresolved tenant issues, and lost client trust. Real estate professionals cannot afford to ignore these inefficiencies. But it doesn't have to be this way. Automation is transforming real estate by eliminating these friction points, not just for large firms but for small businesses and independent professionals as well. When used correctly, automation doesn't replace the human touch—it enhances it—bringing clarity, consistency, and professionalism to every interaction. Clarity and consistency through automation In any business, consistency is key to maintaining professionalism. Automation allows companies to standardize processes, ensuring that terms, policies, and interactions are clear and uniform. This not only minimizes misunderstandings but also builds trust with clients and partners. Everyone knowing what to expect reduces disputes and enhances professionalism. In real estate, this is especially true in lease management. Automated enforcement of lease agreements ensures that terms such as late fees, payment deadlines, and maintenance responsibilities are clearly outlined and consistently enforced. Clear, legally compliant lease terms reduce ambiguity and prevent disputes. For real estate agents, investors, and landlords managing their own properties, automation makes it easier to comply with local laws by applying consistent terms across all leases or transactions, protecting interests, and building client trust. Additionally, automated in-app messaging leads to stronger relationships and fewer misunderstandings by providing a centralized platform where landlords and tenants can communicate. Real-time, two-way communication directly within a secure system eliminates the need for scattered text threads, emails, or missed calls. Landlords can track and manage conversations efficiently, while tenants gain a clear channel for addressing concerns, receiving updates, or asking questions. Predictable and respectful communication Automation can also elevate customer interactions by maintaining consistent, respectful communication. In business, this means automated reminders for appointments, follow-ups, or deadlines, ensuring clients are kept informed without feeling overwhelmed or neglected. For property managers and landlords, this is exemplified by automated rent payment reminders and notifications. Rather than sending ad-hoc texts or emails—sometimes at inconvenient hours such as early morning or late night—landlords can set up reminders delivered consistently at the same time of the day and on the same days of the month. This reduces late payments, maintains professionalism, and respects tenants' personal time. Automation also supports multiple payment methods, offering tenants convenience while providing landlords with a clear, trackable payment history. Streamline management Effective management requires keeping track of tasks, requests, and communications without anything slipping through the cracks. Automation excels at this, offering centralized systems where tasks are logged, prioritized, and tracked. In real estate, this is best seen in maintenance management. Automated systems allow tenants to submit maintenance requests, which are then logged, categorized, and tracked. Tenants can see the status of their requests, reducing repetitive follow-ups, while landlords have a clear record of completed work, costs, and vendor interactions. Enhance client experiences Businesses across industries are increasingly focused on the client journey, ensuring that every touchpoint is smooth and satisfying. In real estate, automation can transform this experience by streamlining scheduling, property showings, and follow-ups. For real estate agents, this might mean automated property match notifications or self-service scheduling tools that allow prospective buyers or renters to book showings without waiting and prevent double bookings. Beyond convenience, automation elevates professionalism. Agents and landlords can maintain consistent follow-ups, ensuring that clients receive timely responses and critical information without delays. This reduces client anxiety, builds trust, and helps real estate professionals create a reputation for reliability and responsiveness. Furthermore, automation can help investors offer value-added services that improve tenants' financial well-being. For example, credit-boosting features allow tenants to report on-time rent payments to major credit bureaus, helping them build their credit scores over time. This benefits both tenants, who see improved credit, and landlords, who often experience a noticeable increase in on-time payments. Such features make rental properties more attractive to prospective tenants and foster long-term loyalty. Data-Driven Decisions for Smarter Investments Automation is a game-changer for investors who rely on data to drive decision-making. Automated tools can collect and analyze market trends, rental yield data, property valuations, and investment forecasts in real-time. This gives investors immediate access to insights that can guide strategic decisions. Beyond basic data access, automation also allows for customized dashboards where investors can visualize performance metrics across their portfolio. This helps them quickly identify high-performing properties, spot emerging opportunities, and make informed decisions faster than competitors relying on manual research. For instance, RentRedi runs surveys that provide critical insights into landlord behaviors, from how they prepare for tax season to how they screen tenants. Understanding these patterns helps professionals benchmark their practices, anticipate challenges, and make more informed decisions. Additionally, we partner with Chandan Economics to develop data reports that offer broader market insights by tracking trends in rental demand, property values, and landlord investment plans. Access to this kind of data ensures that professionals are not making decisions based on guesswork but on solid, actionable intelligence. Elevating Industry Standards In an industry where professionalism can make or break a deal, automation allows real estate professionals to minimize miscommunication and hidden costs. Businesses that embrace automation can reduce costly errors and deliver consistent, high-quality service that sets them apart. As they raise the bar for professionalism, they gain a competitive edge, build stronger client relationships, and operate more efficiently. This means that even the smallest landlords can adopt best practices once reserved for large corporate investors. Automation allows real estate professionals to focus on higher-value tasks like client relationships and portfolio growth. As automation becomes the norm, professionalism in real estate is becoming the standard, rather than the exception.
Geek Wire
5 hours ago
- Business
- Geek Wire
Acumatica CEO on the secret sauce behind company's growth — and its next chapter with Vista
Acumatica CEO John Case. (Acumatica Photo) Make the software easy to use. Find key partners to drive sales. Lean on a community of users to help improve your product. Those are some of the ingredients fueling growth at Acumatica, the Bellevue, Wash.-based enterprise software giant that will be acquired by Vista Equity Partners in a deal announced Thursday. Founded in 2008, the company has grown steadily since it was acquired by EQT Partners in 2019. EQT generated a 5X multiple on its invested capital, according to Bloomberg, which reported that the new deal with Vista values Acumatica at about $2 billion. Acumatica specializes in enterprise resource planning, or ERP. Its software is used for accounting, inventory tracking, supply chain operations, and more. The company targets mid-market customers — businesses with 25-to-1,000 employees — across an array of industries. 'Tens of thousands of companies fit that description and they're hunting for new digital technology to run their business,' said Acumatica CEO John Case. The ongoing AI boom is a tailwind for Acumatica, which has introduced a range of automation capabilities to help speed up data extraction, demand forecasting, business workflows, and more. 'The mid-market customer, they don't have big AI teams,' Case said. 'They're looking to buy systems and run on systems that are going to benefit from that technology in a very pragmatic way.' Acumatica has carved market share in a competitive sector that includes Microsoft, Oracle, and other ERP vendors — but it differentiates by focusing specifically on mid-market. Case, who joined as CEO in 2022, pointed to three aspects of the company's business that has helped drive growth. Platform architecture: Since its inception, the company built software with easy integration capabilities and configuration, Case said. 'We do all this extra work to make the platform incredibly functional for the average customer,' he said. Since its inception, the company built software with easy integration capabilities and configuration, Case said. 'We do all this extra work to make the platform incredibly functional for the average customer,' he said. Go-to-market model: Acumatica works with hundreds of partners in a reseller network that help with implementation and in-person service. 'That channel is incredibly hard to build and replicate,' Case said. Acumatica works with hundreds of partners in a reseller network that help with implementation and in-person service. 'That channel is incredibly hard to build and replicate,' Case said. Community engagement: The company has more than 30,000 active members in its community that vote on potential new features. 'They want us to build the product that they want to use,' Case said. 'That is a really helpful virtuous cycle that helps shape our future — and insulate us from some of the challenges other businesses might have.' Case said Acumatica talked to a number of private equity firms over the past several months. 'Vista was most convicted about our business model and how we go to market,' he said, adding: 'This is a growth story. They're wanting to fuel and accelerate that growth.' The company plans to boost headcount and reach about 750 employees globally this quarter. About 10% of its workforce is based in the Pacific Northwest. Acumatica moved its headquarters to the Seattle region from the Washington, D.C., area in 2012. It opened a new HQ in Bellevue last year. Vista, an Austin, Texas-based firm with more than $100 billion in assets, recently acquired Bellevue-based enterprise software company Smartsheet in an $8.4 billion deal with Blackstone. Vista also acquired other Seattle-area tech companies including IT cost analysis software firm Apptio in 2019 (Apptio sold to IBM in 2023) and tax software giant Avalara in 2022.
CNN
6 hours ago
- Business
- CNN
Why this leading AI CEO is warning the tech could cause mass unemployment
The chief executive of one of the world's leading artificial intelligence labs is warning that the technology could cause a dramatic spike in unemployment in the very near future. He says policymakers and corporate leaders aren't ready for it. 'AI is starting to get better than humans at almost all intellectual tasks, and we're going to collectively, as a society, grapple with it,' Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei told CNN's Anderson Cooper in an interview on Thursday. 'AI is going to get better at what everyone does, including what I do, including what other CEOs do.' The full conversation is set to air on CNN at 8 p.m. ET. Amodei believes the AI tools that Anthropic and other companies are racing to build could eliminate half of entry-level, white-collar jobs and spike unemployment to as much as 20% in the next one to five years, he told Axios on Wednesday. That could mean the US unemployment rate growing fivefold in just a few years; the last time it neared that rate was briefly at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. It's not the first dire warning about how rapidly advancing AI could upend the economy in the coming years. Academics and economists have also cautioned that AI could replace some jobs or tasks in the coming years, with varying degrees of seriousness. Earlier this year, a World Economic Forum survey showed that 41% of employers plan to downsize their workforce because of AI automation by 2030. But Amodei's prediction is notable because it's coming from one of the industry's top leaders and because of the scale of disruption it foretells. It also comes as Anthropic is now selling AI technology on the promise that it can work nearly the length of a typical human workday. The historical narrative about how tech advancement works is that technology would automate lower-paying, lower-skilled jobs, and the displaced human workers can be trained to take more lucrative positions. However, if Amodei is correct, AI could wipe out more specialized white-collar roles that may have required years of expensive training and education — and those workers may not be so easily retrained for equal or higher-paying jobs. Amodei suggested that lawmakers may even need to consider levying a tax on AI companies. 'If AI creates huge total wealth, a lot of that will, by default, go to the AI companies and less to ordinary people,' he said. 'So, you know, it's definitely not in my economic interest to say that, but I think this is something we should consider and I think it shouldn't be a partisan thing.' Researchers and economists have forecast that professionals from paralegals and payroll clerks to financial advisers and coders could see their jobs dramatically change – if not eliminated entirely – in the coming years thanks to AI. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said last month that he expects AI to write half the company's code within the next year; Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said as much as 30% of his company's code is currently being written by AI. Amodei told CNN that Anthropic tracks how many people say they use its AI models to augment human jobs versus to entirely automate human jobs. Currently, he said, it's about 60% of people using AI for augmentation and 40% for automation, but that the latter is growing. Last week, the company released a new AI model that it says can work independently for almost seven hours in a row, taking on more complex tasks with less human oversight. Amodei says most people don't realize just how quickly AI is advancing, but he advises 'ordinary citizens' to 'learn to use AI.' 'People have adapted to past technological changes,' Amodei said. 'But everyone I've talked to has said this technological change looks different, it looks faster, it looks harder to adapt to, it's broader. The pace of progress keeps catching people off guard.' Estimates about just how quickly AI models are improving vary widely. And some skeptics have predicted that as big AI companies run out of high-quality, publicly available data to train their models on, after having already gobbled up much of the internet, the rate of change in the industry may slow. Some who study the technology also say it's more likely that AI will automate certain tasks, rather than entire jobs, giving human workers more time to do complex tasks that computers aren't good at yet. But regardless of where they fall on the prediction scale, most experts agree that it is time for the world to start planning for the economic impacts of AI. 'People sometimes comfort themselves (by) saying, 'Oh, but the economy always creates new jobs,'' University of Virginia business and economics professor Anton Korinek said in an email. 'That's true historically, but unlike in the past, intelligent machines will be able to do the new jobs as well, and probably learn them faster than us humans.' Amodei said he also believes that AI will have positive impacts, such as curing disease. 'I wouldn't be building this technology if I didn't think that it could make the world better,' he said. For the CEO, making this warning now could serve, in some ways, to boost his reputation as a responsible leader in the space. The top AI labs are competing not only to have the most powerful models, but also be perceived as the most trustworthy stewards of the tech transformation, amid growing questions from lawmakers and the public about the technology's efficacy and implications. 'Amodei's message is not just about warning the public. It's part truth-telling, part reputation management, part market positioning, and part policy influence,' tech futurist and Futuremade CEO Tracey Follows told CNN in an email. 'If he makes the claim that this will cause 20% unemployment over the next five years, and no-one stops or impedes the ongoing development of this model … then Anthropic cannot be to blame in the future — they warned people.' Amodei told Cooper that he's 'raising the alarm' because other AI leaders 'haven't as much and I think someone needs to say it and to be clear.' 'I don't think we can stop this bus,' Amodei said. 'From the position that I'm in, I can maybe hope to do a little to steer the technology in a direction where we become aware of the harms, we address the harms, and we're still able to achieve the benefits.'
